A couple have said they will never fly with TUI again after spending £1,800 on a holiday package and being turned away at check-in.
Penny Priestly, 59, and her husband Dug arrived at East Midlands Airport on Tuesday, May, to go on their 10-day trip to Benidorm, Spain.
But at check-in, they were told by the airline that TUI was not able to fly them to Benidorm due to rules around the validity of UK passports.
Penny told NottinghamshireLive: "We just turned up and were waiting an hour in the queue, I think we were about fourth from last and the girl on the checkout said to the other girl, can you check those dates?
"She checked and said no they can't fly. Then a bloke came over, a supervisor or something, and he said our only alternative is to go to Jet2 and ask them if we can fly."
The couple claimed they were turned away as they only had a year left on their passports, but TUI told The Mirror that the couple could not fly as their passports were older than 10 years.
Government rules say that British citizens travelling to an EU country (except Ireland) or Switzerland, Norway, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Andorra, Monaco, San Marino or Vatican City must have a valid passport that was issued less than 10 years before the date they enter the country.
The document also needs to be valid for at least three months after the day holidaymakers plan to leave.
Each of the couple's passports expires in February 2024, which is nine months after the holiday they had planned, but the date of issue was more than 10 years before their departure date.
The couple said that TUI staff at the airport told them if they had gone days earlier they would have been okay, saying: "They said if we had gone on Saturday we would have been alright." The Saturday would have been May 13, which was the ten-year mark from when the couple's passports were issued.
Penny said they would "never ever" fly with TUI again. Adding: "We will always use Jet 2 now or Ryanair, or even easyJet - they could fly us as well."
The couple eventually managed to go on holiday at a later date with Jet2 for £860 and they were not able to be refunded the TUI flights or transfers as it was a package flight.
A spokesperson for TUI said: "We're sorry that Mr Priestly was unable to fly with TUI as planned as his passport did not meet the required government passport guidelines.
"Government rules state that for customers travelling to certain EU countries, passports must be issued less than 10 years before the date you enter the country and must also be valid for at least three months after the day you plan to leave. We strongly advise that our customers check their passports are up to date before booking any flights.
"Details of passport validity guidelines can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice."
