Ellie Boltman, her husband Alex Stone and their two children were looking forward to a pre-Christmas holiday in the Canary Islands, flying with easyJet to Tenerife. They turned up at Luton airport on 16 December last year, in good time to drop their cases. All of them had valid passports that comfortably met both requirements for a holiday in the EU:
Ms Boltman’s passport was valid for travel to the European Union until late February 2025 – yet she was denied boarding by a member of easyJet check-in staff.