Brit grandad, 81, banned from boarding Ryanair plane due to passport rule
The family of an 81-year-old grandad have said they're going to boycott Ryanair after he wasn't allowed to board a flight due to a problem with his passport.
John Constable, his wife Susan and 16 more members of their family had been due to fly off to Spain when the grandad was told at Bournemouth Airport that he couldn't get on the plane.
The rest of his family went on holiday to Girona while John returned home alone, but for future family holidays they plan to stay away from Ryanair.
The airline, however, insists John was 'correctly refused travel' as his passport had a small tear in it.
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John said his passport had been damaged because he'd accidentally sent it through the washing machine, but he'd been able to use it for a cruise in Canada since the time it had been damaged and various border authorities hadn't had a problem with the document, until the family holiday to Spain.
John’s stepson Scott Palmer-Read said staff at Bournemouth Airport were 'just doing their job' when they flagged the grandad's passport was damaged and had to discuss the matter with Ryanair.
They sent photos of the passport to Ryanair for 'remote assessment' and Scott says that when the answer came back they 'just flat out refused travel' for John despite the family's attempts to appeal.
"We were then told that, because the airline says no, John could not travel - that was it," Scott said, so the 81-year-old was banned from boarding the plane and the family had to go without him or lose a holiday for 18 people.
"I am concerned at the process, you would expect somebody on site to have the authority to say ‘yes’ or ‘no’ after a physical inspection of the passport, rather than somebody remotely.
"We asked for the decision to be reviewed because of the exceptional circumstances, but Ryanair maintained its refusal."
When John had used his damaged passport for the Canadian cruise it had gone through British Airways, Air Canada, UK Border Force, Canadian immigration, US immigration and cruise operators without a problem and the biometrics had all still worked.
His family went on holiday without him, but Susan 'stayed in her room more than usual and just was not herself' on the trip.
"As a family, we would not make the conscious choice to book Ryanair ever again," Scott added as he said the family were boycotting the airline, and he warned others making a journey to check the condition of their passports before they went on holiday.
"Regardless, people should be aware if there is increased diligence on the condition of passports. My message to people would be to check your passport before you travel."
A spokesperson for Ryanair said tear was on the passport's biodata page.
They said: "This passenger was correctly refused travel on this flight from Bournemouth to Barcelona Girona by the gate agent at Bournemouth Airport as his travel document was damaged and therefore not valid for travel."
Joe Harker