‘I was in tears’: BA wrongly turns away another flyer

At 7.15am on Thursday 5 June, Claire Hannington, 45, and three friends arrived at Gatwick airport. They were booked on a British Airways flight two hours later to Ibiza.

- By SIMON CALDER TRAVEL CORRESPONDENT

Ms Hannington, an interior designer from Hertfordshire, had verified in advance that her passport was valid.

But BA ground staff at the Sussex airport once again chose to invent their own rules on passport validity, and she was wrongly turned away.

“I was removed from the queue without time to process what was happening, ask questions or have the matter properly verified,” she told The Independent.

“I was overwhelmed and in tears. I trusted the BA staff as the experts in these matters. I was told, emphatically, that my only option was to go to the Passport Office, get a same-day passport and buy a brand new flight.

“I felt deeply guilty, wrongly believing the error might be mine and that I had jeopardised my friends’ holiday as well.”

Later that day, British Airways staff at London City airport confirmed Ms Hannington was entitled to travel on her existing passport. A flight was available that afternoon - but to board it she would have to pay an additional £780.

Ms Hannington instead paid £392 for an evening flight on BA from Gatwick. As her passport was valid, she proceeded through the airport without a problem and joined her friends later that night on the Spanish holiday island.

The post-Brexit rules on passport validity for the European Union took effect in 2021. Because there was some scope for misunderstanding, The Independent clarified them with Brussels and shared the rules with the leading UK airlines.

For a trip to anywhere in the EU (except Ireland), a British passport must meet two conditions:

• No more than 10 years old on the day of departure to the EU.