Ryanair passenger blocked from boarding despite year left on passport

Ryanair passenger blocked from boarding despite having a year left on his passport.

One Ryanair passenger flying out from East Midlands Airport hit out at passport validity restrictions. Ian Glover, 66, warned other travellers about the passport confusion.

Ian was turned away from the Ryanair check-in desk on April 25. He had been all set to fly to Faro but his passport issue date was too far away from his end of travel date.

The disgruntled passenger told Derbyshire Live: “As I was going through the Ryanair check-in desk, she said that ‘your passport isn’t valid’. I said it was because I looked at the Government website and it said that it shouldn’t have been issued more than ten years ago, and it was issued in July 2012, which means the 10 years is July this year, and it also stated you needed to have three months from expiry, and the expiry is the 6th April 2023.

“I’d read stories about people having problems so I’d looked into it but thought I was fine. What Ryanair were saying was that the expiry date is irrelevant, it’s the issue date that matters.

“What they’re saying is that 10 years after the passport expires obviously, but they also want 3 months from the expiry of the date of issue. That’s not being made clear at all.”

A Ryanair representative told Ian “that the three months after travelling would also need to be within ten years of passport issue,” according to the Nottingham Post. Ian believes that the UK government website should make these travel restrictions clearer. It seems that not all airlines follow the same rules though as Ryanair directed Ian to talk to Jet2.

Ian revealed: “The Ryanair lady said she was so sorry but she really couldn’t let us through, so she said go and talk with Jet2, which I didn’t really understand, but they said they didn’t follow the same rules and I could buy a ticket from them. I asked them to check my passport in depth and they said that’s all okay and I bought the ticket.

“Now reading this information, I’m thinking if I get to that border in Portugal, I haven’t read anyone who has been banned from going in Portugal, but it’s very confusing what Ryanair are doing, and I can now understand why, but that Jet2 aren’t. What bothers me most is that it doesn’t make it clear.

“The language the Government website uses – ‘it may need’, ‘it might be’ – I’ve just gone on the passport validity. I had loads of time left on my passport, and I was well within the six months.”

 “Jet2 looked through everything and said their flight to Portugal had just gone but there was a flight tomorrow. They said I was fine to come back on my original ticket because I would be coming back into the UK and they’re okay with passports being like that.”

Ian went on to add: “I think people should just be aware of it because when I left the airport and spoke to a woman behind the bar, she told her passport was exactly the same or even less time, so I don’t think she’ll be able to get a new one in time for her holiday. I think there are going to be a lot of people turning up at airports in the summer, who are thinking ‘great, here we go’, I think there should just be more information to be honest.

“To be fair the lady on the Ryanair desk was pleasant and she did recommend solutions like Jet2. After I went off to get a coffee at arrivals, she’d finished her shift and came running up to me and asked how I got on, and was so pleased when I told her I got another ticket.

“She was most helpful and did the best she could, and I was pleased she told me I was pleasant as well. After the day I’d had I just felt as flat as a pancake to be honest, but then I did count my blessings being able to come back here and play my golf and play my tennis.”

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