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Date Published: 12/12/2023

British man stopped boarding flight to Spain even though his UK passport was valid

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Ryanair staff refused to allow the man on his flight to Alicante, claiming his travel documents were out of date

British man stopped boarding flight to Spain even though his UK passport was valid

A UK traveller was turned back at the boarding gate at London Luton Airport by Ryanair staff who claimed he didn’t have enough time left on his British passport to legally make the trip to Spain. Mark Starkey, who had booked a pre-Christmas holiday in Alicante, was banned from boarding the plane, even though his travel documents were perfectly valid.

Post-Brexit regulations mean that all passports issued in the UK must be less than ten years old and have at least three months left after the return trip from an EU country. Mark might have been cutting it fine, but his passport, which was issued on December 11, 2013, wasn’t due to expire until the 11th of July next year when he went to catch his flight last year.

"The ground staff lady noted that I only had three days left on my passport from the day it was issued for the 10-year rule. I said that I knew and this was my last trip of the year before I got my passport renewed," Mark explained.

Despite being an airline supervisor herself, the worker told Mark she would have to double-check with Ryanair’s immigration team. It wasn’t long before the disgruntled passenger was told he wouldn’t be allowed to fly that day.

Mark, who felt “stunned that I was completely stonewalled” had no choice but to return home. He immediately booked a new flight with easyJet for the following day and was allowed to travel, on the same passport, with no issues.

Hopefully Mark’s distressing experience won’t be repeated anytime soon, as Ryanair quickly admitted he was denied boarding in error.

A spokesperson said: "We sincerely regret that this passenger was incorrectly denied travel by the handling agent at Luton airport, 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:

"Passports must be issued within 10 years of the date of arrival into the EU.

"The passport must be valid for at least 3 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 agent at Luton airport."

In other news: European jet fuel tax could cost Spain 4.5 million tourists per year

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