'Gutted' Ryanair passenger refused boarding and misses £700 holiday over 'tiny' passport issue

A "gutted" Ryanair passenger claims she was booted off the flight for her £700 holiday due to a "tiny" issue with her passport.

Rachael Norton-Voysey, 33, had been jetting off to Lanzarote from Birmingham Airport for a five-day getaway with a friend on June 4, when her journey was thrown into disarray.

It was only when the passenger got to the boarding gate that she was "shocked" to be told she could not fly by Ryanair staff, due to a 1.5cm rip in her passport.

Photos show the tear along the right side of the photo page, however, Rachael insisted it "doesn't obscure" any pictures or details.

TRENDING

Stories

Videos

Your Say

The 33-year-old artist claims staff were "petty" by not letting her fly, resulting in her friend also deciding to miss out on the holiday, with both forced to make the "sad" train journey back home.

The UK Government website warns that any passport that is ripped is considered "damaged" and should be replaced, cautioning of the risk of being denied to fly.

Rachael, from Erdington, Birmingham, said: "It was gutting for us both. We got to the gate and handed in my passport at that point to get onto the plane and he said it was ripped and they wouldn't let us through.

"It was horrible. That feeling where your stomach just drops knowing we wouldn't be going on holiday at that point. There's no arguing with them once they do that.

"My friend could've gone but she didn't want to go without me. We had to sit there and wait for them to finish boarding and then they escorted us out. We had to watch everyone get onto the flight."

She described feeling "completely shocked", given she had travelled on the passport before, adding: "It's a tiny rip really. It's not on any of the details and it doesn't obscure anything."

Rachel added: "I understand where they're coming from but it is really petty in my opinion. Even when they took us back through immigration to the airport, even the immigration staff said it was harsh."

The customer revealed she and her friend are hoping to finally fly to Lanzarote in September, after managing to rearrange their Airbnb stay.

LATEST DEVELOPMENTS:

• Major UK airline under fire over 'questionable' policy that could leave customers paying more
• 'Disruptive and aggressive' Jet2 passenger dies after being restrained by fellow travellers
• Ryanair to allow children to sit next to their parents on flights for FREE after airline backs down

Despite the prospect of another attempt in the near future, Rachael described the journey home as "so sad", adding: "both of us had worked so hard to get up to that point. It was so painful."

She said: "I did put in a complaint letter just saying that I thought it was a little bit mean and that they should be a bit more consistent considering they've let me fly on this passport before.

"I had no reason to worry about it, which is the thing that's annoyed me. I've had the passport for eight years and don't know when the rip happened.

"I think it might've happened when I was abroad before, hence why I just never thought of it because I managed to get home fine and I didn't think about it until I went abroad again. I should've thought about it but I never did."

The 33-year-old said she has ordered a replacement passport, and is "going to be locking it away", as well as sleeving it in a passport holder.

She advised other travellers to check their passport well before going to travel, and to put it in a case and get travel insurance - which she also left without.

"Everyone should check their passports because it might be fine nine times out of 10 but that one time might ruin a holiday", she said.

The UK Government website warns: "If your passport is damaged, you must replace it. You may not be able to travel with it. HM Passport Office will consider your passport damaged if any of the pages are ripped, cut or missing."

A spokesman for Ryanair said: "This passenger was correctly refused travel from Birmingham to Lanzarote on June 4 as her passport was damaged and therefore not valid for travel."

Our Standards: The GB News Editorial Charter