I was banned from my flight due to a ‘passport mistake’ despite the airline being in the wrong
A DAD was left fuming after he was banned from boarding his flight due to a 'passport mistake'.
However, the airline was in the wrong - as his passport was still valid.
Jonathon Lane, 72, was travelling from the UK to Egypt when the incident occurred.
After arriving at Gatwick Airport for his easyJet flight, staff told him that new post-Brexit rules meant his passport wasn't valid.
His passport expired in June 2023, but was older than 10 years so this means it wouldn't have been valid to travel to the EU.
However, Egypt is not in the EU - and doesn't follow the same rules.
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Despite Jonathon and his family telling the gate staff his passport was valid, they were threatened with airport security.
The rest of his family were able to fly to Sharm el Sheikh while Jonathon was forced to go to Peterborough for a new passport.
Not only did he have to pay for an emergency passport - which costs a lost more - but he missed four days of his holiday.
Jonathon's dad, Alan, said it was a "huge shock" and said it was unacceptable.
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He told the : "The holiday was ruined.
"We had to look after a two and nine-year-old, because his father wasn't there, and his mother became ill with all the stress."
Alan also said his holiday was ruined and that he wanted an apology from the airline.
EasyJet has since said they got the rules wrong and would be compensating the family.
A spokesperson said: "We are very sorry that Mr Lane was incorrectly denied boarding due to a misunderstanding of the passport validity rules for travel to Egypt by the boarding agent assisting them at the gate, and we are following up with our ground handling partner at London Gatwick to ensure this doesn’t occur in the future.
"We are in touch with Mr Lane to apologise for the error and to reimburse him in full for any travel expenses and process the compensation he is due."
Jonathon isn't the first person this has happened to, as a number of Brits have been banned from their flights due to the new rules.
Last year, grandma Mary Rankin had planned a big family trip to Disneyland Paris in April, to celebrate her 70th birthday.
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However, airline staff said her passport as no longer valid due to the Brexit rules - even though it was.
And a Ryanair passenger was banned from his flight despite his passport having more than a year left on it.
