A MUM was left “in tears” after she was banned from her flight when staff claimed she had made a mistake – only for another airline to let her fly.
Rachael Delaney was due to fly to Majorca with her daughter from Leeds Bradford on a Ryanair flight for a post-exams break.
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However, their plans were left in ruins when an airline staff member told Rachael she wouldn’t be allowed on the plane due to new passport rules.
She told local media: “There was one person on the gate and he looked at my passport and said, ‘Sorry you can’t fly’. He couldn’t really give an explanation.”
Rachael said she was left in tears while her 17-year-old daughter boarded the plane and set off to Spain on her own.
However, it soon transpired that Rachael’s passport was completely valid and that the airline staff member had in fact misinterpreted the new regulations.
After her original Ryanair flight had already set off, Rachel was then offered a lifeline by rival airline Jet2, who allowed the mother to take up a spare seat on one of their outbound flights.
“She continued: “As I was leaving there was the Jet2 desk there. They smiled at me. I said, ‘Can you help me?’ They took me to the service desk, looked at my passport and said, ‘Yeah you can fly’.
“They got me onto the Manchester flight later on that evening and I joined my daughter about midnight that night, rather than 10am. Jet2 saved the day. I was so so grateful for it.”
However the change in flights didn’t come cheap – Rachael claimed she had to fork out £530 altogether to replace her Ryanair flights.
Ryanair later admitted that the woman should have been permitted to fly as intended.
A spokesperson told Sun Online Travel: “We sincerely regret that this passenger was incorrectly denied travel by our handling agents at Leeds Bradford Airport (30 June), who wrongly believed that this passenger’s passport was not valid for travel to the EU.
“All UK nationals travelling to the EU must comply with the following entry requirements:
“1. Passports must be issued within 10 years of the date of arrival into the EU.
“2. The passport must be valid for at least three months from the return date of travel from the EU.
“A member of our Customer Service Department will contact this passenger regarding the error made by our handling agents at Leeds Bradford Airport.”
Everything you need to know about the new passport rule changes can be found here.
Brits have also had problems boarding flights because of problems with the NHS Covid app.
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