A Leeds woman was forced to say a tearful goodbye to her husband and son at the Ryanair check-in desk after not being allowed on a flight for a family holiday.
Ana Tiganescu was looking forward to being around family members and jetting off on her first holiday in more than three years with a trip to Faro, Portugal. However, the University of Leeds scientist was left devastated when a member of Ryanair staff at Leeds Bradford Airport told her she couldn't travel due to the date that her passport was issued.
Though she has six months left before her UK passport expires, Dr Tiganescu was prevented from boarding the flight and told she could not head off on the week-long trip because her passport was issued more than 10 years ago, the Mirror reports.
Read more: 'It's like Corrie' says business owner as data shows crime hotspots in Leeds city centre
The family were forced to make a split second decision about whether they would go without her, only to be told that their hold luggage would have to remain in the UK with Dr Tiganescu as she had checked it in. Since leaving the European Union, Brits are now subject to strict passport requirements set by each member state, with the majority requiring them to have at least six months until the expiration date and to have been issued no more than 10 years ago.
The UK government's official travel advice webpage for Portugal states: "Your passport must meet 2 requirements. It must be:
- less than 10 years old on the day you enter (check the ‘date of issue’)
- valid for at least 3 months after the day you plan to leave (check the ‘expiry date’)."
The government says it has asked the European Commission to clarify the 10-year rule but guidance may not be updated until "the spring of 2022".
Dr Tiganescu, who will now spend Easter alone while her family holiday in Portugal, has written a letter of complaint to the Government.
"This was a huge shock and very distressing for us all – especially my son, who didn’t understand why I wasn’t allowed to go with them," Dr Tiganescu told the Mirror. "I was left very upset, in shock, and humiliated, waiting for an unspecified amount of time, almost two hours, for a Ryanair steward to escort me back through security.
"This situation was deeply distressing. When I finally made it back out of the airport, I was in such a state that I couldn’t remember my postcode for a taxi home."
She fears many more people will be impacted by the rule, adding: "I think it will be complete chaos this summer, when people begin travelling again for the first time since the pandemic. No one is going to look at their passports if they have a year left. The Government claims they sent a million text messages about this in 2019, but that was only to people who gave their phone numbers when they applied for a passport ten years ago.
"For such disruptive changes, likely to affect thousands of UK people, I believe it is the responsibility of the government to ensure the public are fully aware. Everyone affected by this rule change should have been notified individually that their passports would no longer be valid for EU travel, even if still in-date - this contradiction is very confusing."
Have you been affected by issues at Leeds Bradford Airport? Join the conversation in the comments
Dr Tigenescu has urged the Government to send direct alerts to people impacted by the changes.
"This situation is not helped by airlines not being under any obligation to check passport issue dates at the point of booking – a simple change that would leave ample time to update documents if necessary," she continued.
"I am aware that going on holiday is a privilege, compared to the situation in Ukraine. However, this does not excuse a lack of preparation and foresight by the government, clearly evidenced by the widespread issues that people are facing, and which should have been prepared for long before the Covid-19 pandemic and current situation in Ukraine.
"The government have had since 2016 to plan."
Ryanair and the Home Office have been contacted for comment.
