Family’s holiday ruined as new passport rules see them turned away at airport

Posted on : 07/29/2022
Family’s holiday ruined as new passport rules see them turned away at airport
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A family were turned away at the airport due to new passport rules, meaning they have lost £2,000 after being unable to go on a holiday to Portugal.

Meg Gordon, her husband Andy and their 16-year-old twins Jasmine and Dylan arrived at Cornwall Airport Newquay for their summer break, only to find that Meg's passport fell foul of new post-Brexit rules, as reported by CornwallLive.

READ MORE: Man on 9-hour Megabus to Scotland says journey was 'even worse than I expected'

Although her passport was still in date – it wasn't due to expire until April 2023 – it had been issued over 10 years before she travelled. Under new EU rules, passports need to have been issued less than 10 years before the date you enter the country.

Have you been unable to go on holiday due to passport issues? Email us at [email protected].


She told CornwallLive : "We checked the bags in, had the passports checked and scanned – no problem, went through security and sat in the departure lounge and watched it fill up with other eager, excited passengers.

"Brilliant, the time had come to board the plane. Andy, Jas and Dylan were in front of me, but when a member of the ground staff checked my passport she told me it’s out of date. I replied, ‘sorry I think you are mistaken it’s valid until April 2023’. ‘No it’s not’ – the ten years run from the issue date, in my case July 8, 2012.

"I was then abruptly informed that as the UK are no longer in the EU the rules have changed and I would not be able to travel. I was marched back through the busy departure gate in front of everyone while my family were still waiting to board the plane."

Meg had renewed her passport after getting married – at the time, renewed passports could carry forward up to nine months, but this changed after Brexit.

Meg, who works for the NHS in paediatrics, believes that the changes in passport rules haven't been made clear to Brits.

She explained: "We were completely unaware of it. I asked how I got through check-in over two hours ago without it being noticed, plus I entered my passport details when I purchased the flights. They couldn’t answer."

The family were asked to decide if the others would travel onwards without her – and have expressed that staff showed a lack of compassion, describing the airport's customer service as "shocking".

Meg said: "I was happy for Andy, Jas and Dylan to go ahead and said I would try and get to London to renew my unexpired passport. The supervisor then told me that was unlikely and abruptly asked for a decision. Subsequently our bags arrived very quickly and we were escorted out of the airport like criminals."

Newquay Cornwall Airport told CornwallLive its terminal team is liaising directly with the family involved as "we investigate further internally".

Meg and Andy have since written to the airport's managing director and their local MP. In the email, Andy says: "We were in a state of shock, distress and embarrassment. I am unable to truly explain how distraught, upset and devastated our family were and still are with the way that we were treated by the airport staff."

The couple say they have lost £2,000 in flights, car hire and other holiday plans as a result of the misunderstanding.

Meg added: "My husband went back into the airport to make sure every base had been covered and the customer service representative said, 'well, what's up with the passport, it's still valid'. She was completely unaware of it too. It shows it's wide open to anyone's interpretation.

"We just want to raise awareness to other people, especially in Cornwall, which will get hit the hardest by the cost of living crisis."

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