School kid denied boarding on £3,000 holiday by Qatar Airways over passport
A woman has claimed that her son wasn't allowed to board a Qatar Airways flight because the airline allegedly had an issue with his passport.
Meghan Law was set to go on a £3,000 holiday with her two children for two weeks to Phuket, Thailand on 8 October.
However, the NHS nurse, 33, said she told was told by Qatar Airways check-in staff at Edinburgh Airport that there was a problem with her 13-year-old's passport, which prevented them from boarding.
She claims staff told her that her son Alix Dawson's passport had a 'luggage sticker mark' on it, which meant that it was 'damaged'.
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But Meghan argued that they had travelled more than a dozen times with the same passport and never had an issue.
After getting in touch with tour operator TUI, she said they told her that there were no problems with the passport and managed to put her on the next available flight out.
"We got to the airport and were checking in my bags when the [check-in staff member] looked at my passport then just walked away from the desk. She didn't say anything," the mum, from Aberdeen, said.
"We were standing there for 20 minutes before I asked what's going on. She came back and said that my passport was damaged."
She added: "What they were trying to say was that the luggage check-in stickers that had been stuck on one of the pages had damaged the page. But it wasn't even on the photo page.
"There were no rips, it was just where the sticker marks had been. They said we couldn't travel with it."
Meghan believes that Qatar Airways 'overbooked' the flight and that they should compensate her for the 'stressful' experience.
She said: "I think Qatar Airways had actually overbooked the flight. It was quite obvious standing in the airport that the flight was overbooked, given there were people standing about and not checking in.
"I'd never had an experience like that at any other airport. There was no justification for it. I'll never fly with Qatar again.
"It ruined the start of the trip - it was so stressful.
"I think compensation is justified. It's really put my anxieties up for flying in the future. They just weren't kind or compassionate whatsoever.
"I was a single parent with two children, which really added to the stress. I don't think this was anything to do with the passport, considering every other airline had no issue with it."
LADbible Group has contacted Qatar Airways for comment.
Anish Vij