Ryanair has issued an apology after a staff member mistakingly prevented a mum from boarding a flight to Majorca.
Rachael Delaney walked out of Leeds-Bradford Airport in tears after a member of the budget airlines staff misinterpreted post-Brexit rules and stopped her from going onto the plane. Due to the incident, her daughter Keira who she was travelling with at the time went to Majorca without her.
Despite being denied entry on the flight, Rachael later learned that her travel documents were all in order to gain access to Spain with Jet2 offering her a space on one of its flights. Since the incident, Ryanair has officially apologised to Rachel.
"The stress and tears this incurred was not necessary," Rachael told The Mirror. "I was distraught and Ryanair showed no compassion."
The holiday was intended to be a nice reward for her 17-year-old daughter after finishing her exams. Rachael made sure to check online that their passport details were in check and printed out all the required papers. "There was one person on the gate and he looked at my passport and said, 'Sorry you can't fly'," Rachael claimed.
"He couldn't really give an explanation, he just said 'We don't cover this'." She added: "My passport doesn't run out until May next year. He kept going on about the ten year rule."
A member of staff asked Rachael to stand aside while he dealt with other customers, he then allegedly told her to leave once everyone else had boarded. Tearfully making her way out of the airport, Rachael called the Passport Office where an avisor stated she should have been able to fly.
"As I was leaving there was the Jet2 desk there," she said. "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."
Rachael was due to fly with Ryanair later that month, however, she was unable to get an emergency passport issued in time and had to rebook with Jet2. In total, it cost her an extra £350 for the tickets alone.
A spokesperson for Ryanair said: “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."
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