Source : Perth Now news
A British holidaymaker’s travel plans have been derailed after a passport fault had him banned from a RyanAir flight.
John Constable, 81, was due to fly from Bournemouth Airport in England to Barcelona, Spain on 27 July with 16 of his family members.
Instead, Mr Constable was left behind at the airport after a “small tear” in a page of his passport was referred to the airline’s staff.
His family said they appealed to the airline to allow him to travel with them under exceptional circumstances, but the request was rejected.
According to Mr Constables stepson, Scott Palmer-Read, the passport had previously been accepted by several airlines, immigration authorities and cruise operators, despite the damage.
“John freely admits his passport went through the washing machine. But he has been able to travel with the passport in the same condition,” Mr Palmer-Read told Bournemouth Echo.
“He had only recently been accepted by British Airways, Air Canada, UK Border Force, Canadian immigration, US immigration and cruise operators without any issue.”
Mr Constables’ family made the difficult decision to follow-through with their travel plans to Girona with the grandfather.
But Mr Palmer-Read said the holiday was tainted by his absence as it felt like a “piece of the puzzle was missing”.
The ordeal has turned the family off booking with RyanAir “ever again.”
However, RyanAir spokesperson said its airline staff had correctly applied the rules because teh damage was on the passport’s biodata page.
“This passenger was correctly refused travel on this flight from Bournemouth to Barcelona Girona (27 July) by the gate agent at Bournemouth Airport as his travel document was damaged (tear in the biodata page of the passport) and therefore not valid for travel,” a spokespersons said.
The ordeal highlights the potential consequences of travelling by air with a damaged passport.
Current UK government guidance states that a damaged passport must be replaced and warns that travellers may not be able to use it for international travel.
Similar guidelines apply Down Under, with the Australian Passport Office’s website stating that damaged or faulty passports can prevent holidaymakers from travelling.
Australian travellers with “more than minor damage” to their passport are urged to apply for new one before jetting off.
