A Glasgow family is seeking almost £11,000 in compensation after a denial of boarding due to a problem with a scribble on a passport, meaning they missed their flight to India.
Gunasekaran Kumar, 37, was travelling with wife Anita Gunasekaran and two daughters to Chennai to see Anita’s sick father ahead of surgery.
However, the family claim that they have been left in credit card debt after buying another set of tickets on top of their initial £2,080 spend after being marked as ‘no shows’ despite being one of the first parties to arrive.
The family were flying with Qatar Airways from Edinburgh to Chennai, India. However, once they arrived at the check-in desk, an issue with Ms Gunasekaran’s Indian passport meant she was told she would not be able to travel.
Check-in staff reportedly took the passport to speak with immigration officers in Chennai, and when they returned, confirmed that she could not board the flight.
“After checking all of the passports, they claimed that my wife’s passport was damaged because it had been scribbled on by my daughter,” Mr Kumar told GlasgowLive.
“We had everything, our photo ID, proof, everything. It was just a couple of scribbles.”
The UK Home Office says a passport is considered damaged and should be replaced if you cannot read details, pages are ripped or missing, there are holes in it, the cover is coming away or if there are stains on it, such as ink or water damage.
The Indian government advises that people can re-apply for a new passport if their booklet is damaged, even if the passport number is legible, the name is legible and the photo is intact.
The Indian Embassy in London and Edinburgh both offer outsourced services to replace lost, stolen or damaged passports, no matter the expiry date.
Mr Kumar claimed to the publication that he spoke with immigration officials in India himself and was eventually told his wife would be cleared to travel as long as she applied for a new passport on her return to the UK.
He claimed that Qatar Airways staff continued to refuse check-in to the flight, even after Mr Kumar suggested just himself and his two young daughters could be checked in instead.
The family claim they were later told that Mrs Gunasekaran’s passport had been cleared, although it is unclear by who, and the family could book tickets on the next flight with Qatar Airways on the phone.
However, once Mr Kumar called the airline up, he was told the family had been registered as a ‘no show’ for the flight, meaning they would have to pay £4,000 to rebook tickets.
“We then booked tickets with Emirates and flew to Chennai and back with no problems on the same passport,” Mr Kumar said.
The family raised a complaint with Qatar Airways and they were offered compensation for Mrs Gunasekaran’s ticket as well as a refund for the other three tickets.
Yet, Mr Kumar refused this and said their trip was “spoiled due to ignorance” and is seeking compensation amounting to £10,969 from Qatar Airways including costs of the tickets, compensation for missing the flight, reimbursement for the Emirates tickets as well as interest.
A Qatar Airways spokesperson told The Independent: “Qatar Airways is sorry to hear about the passenger’s experience and recognise the inconvenience caused. Our customer care team has been in touch with the customer"
Damaged passports preventing travel is a common occurrence. In April, Geordie Shore star Vicky Pattison was denied boarding an easyJet flight due to her dog chewing a part of it.
EasyJet said they “cannot allow any passenger to travel on their planned flight with documentation damaged to such a degree that its authenticity is brought into question”.
However, what airlines consider ‘damaged’ can vary between them. In June, a holidaymaker was blocked from boarding a Tui flight to Cancun because of a “slight mark” on her passport, yet when she looked for another flight with British Airways, she was shocked to find that they had no issue with her passport, and let her fly.
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