A student nurse was banned from flying with Ryanair after a skin reaction caused her face to swell.
The swelling led check-in staff to take a close look at Shannon Wotherspoon’s passport. They decided it was damaged and refused to let her to board the flight home from Alicante with two friends last Monday.
Shannon managed to get a flight with British Airways instead, which had no problem with her passport.
But Ryanair’s decision meant the 24-year-old from Kirkcaldy had to stump up more than £200 for her new flight back to Edinburgh, via Gatwick, and got home 10 hours later than planned.
Shannon said: “My skin was all puffy and when I arrived at check-in I flagged that up. The woman at the counter gave my passport a close examination and immediately started shaking her head.
“She also noticed a bit of water damage on the edges.
“She eventually asked a supervisor and I could see her shaking her head and saying I couldn’t fly.
“The issue wasn’t up for debate. The only positive advice I was given was that another airline might not be as fussy as Ryanair – and that turned out to be the case.”
Shannon added: “I had all sorts of ID, including my driving licence, which had exactly the same photo as my passport, so there was no doubt it was me.
“I had a valid ticket with them and they just basically cut me loose and didn’t care what happened to me.
“I was so angry about it.”
Shannon’s stepdad Stephen Cross said: “I don’t understand how she was refused by Ryanair but allowed by British Airways.
“Shannon was very scared and upset.
“She was left on her own, when she should have been travelling home with her friends.”
Ryanair was given several days to comment but did not respond.
