A WOMAN has told how she was banned from boarding a Ryanair flight because of a ridiculous passport rule.
Caroline Smith, 40, had her holiday to Ibizia to celebrate her 10th wedding anniversary ruined due to a post-Brexit change.
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She had checked in for her flight from Stansted airport on April 28 online with no problems.
But after getting through security, Ryanair staff would not let her board her flight once she reached her gate.
Since the UK left the EU, Brits now need their passports to have been issued within the last nine years and nine months to be able to travel to Europe.
Caroline’s passport expires in March 2023, but the issue date was June 2012 meaning it passes its ten-year deadline in fewer than the required three months.
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Her husband was forced to get on the plane without her – while Caroline had to fork out £400 on a separate one-way ticket with Jet2, who had no issue with the passport date.
She told The Daily Mail: “’It was a nightmare. For me it was just something that I was completely oblivious to and I think it’s really important that people are aware of it because I think it’s going to catch a lot of people out.
She added: “Potentially if your passport has been renewed early which in my case it was because at the time 10 years ago we got married and I’d changed my passport because I wanted to change my name to Smith.
“So they then add on a couple of months to the passport because you’ve renewed it early. Because of that, that then means that some airlines, like Ryanair, are taking it from the issue date.
“The issue date for my passport is in June and they’re saying you need three months from that date.”
She said the issue is “very conflicting’ and “not super clear”.
Last year, a 67-year-old retiree lost her £2,600 dream holiday because of the new passport rules.
And passenger Abi Campbell was stopped from boarding her flight back to Glasgow from Tenerife after thinking her passport was valid.
Despite EU rules allowing Brits to have just three months on their passport to enter the country, some airlines are requiring Brits to have six months, causing further confusion.
It’s not the only passport problem to happen in recent weeks, with many families forced to cancel their holidays after waiting more than 10 weeks for their renewals due to a huge demand in applications.
One woman had to cancel her £2,200 holiday to Spain because of the delays while others had to pay to move their holidays to later in the year.
The Sun has approached Ryanair for comment.
