EasyJet has issued an apology to a man who missed out on a group holiday after being given incorrect passport information once again. Stephen Jackson, a retired aeronautical engineer from Preston, was looking forward to a weekend of golf in Spain with three friends. They arrived at Manchester airport early on Saturday morning to catch their 6.20am easyJet flight to Alicante, scheduled to land at 10am for a day of golf.
Despite Mr. Jackson having a valid passport for travel to Spain and the EU until December 10, 2024, easyJet ground staff claimed it was invalid, citing an issue with the expiry date. The passport met all the necessary conditions post-Brexit, but the staff insisted otherwise. Mr. Jackson tried to reason with them, even showing the official guidelines from the UK government’s Foreign Office website, to no avail.
Following a swift investigation prompted by Mr. Jackson contacting The Independent, easyJet acknowledged the error and issued an apology. A spokesperson for the airline expressed regret for the misunderstanding of passport validity rules and assured measures would be taken to prevent such incidents in the future. Mr. Jackson is entitled to £350 in compensation for being wrongly denied boarding.
In a statement, Mr. Jackson expressed frustration with the ordeal, highlighting the dismissive attitude of easyJet staff despite his accurate passport validity. He described feeling humiliated having to leave his friends behind and head home by train. EasyJet has pledged to look into potential similar cases of passengers being wrongly denied boarding by the staff involved in Mr. Jackson’s situation.
This incident is not an isolated one, as last month British Airways ground staff at London Gatwick also wrongly denied boarding to passengers based on incorrect passport validity interpretations. Kathleen Matheson was wrongly denied boarding for a flight to Florida, with a mistaken claim that the US requires six months’ validity on British passports. British Airways later apologised for both cases, underscoring the importance of accurate implementation of passport rules to avoid disrupting travelers’ plans.