In Brief: U.K. Couple’s Vacation Ruined Thanks to Old Passport, Wary Employee & AWOL Duty Manager
Jesse Tabit February 27, 2015
A U.K. couple’s planned getaway to Paris was canceled by EasyJet on Wednesday after an airline staff member questioned the authenticity of a man’s passport at Belfast International Airport (BFS). Adam Clarke and Megan Meenan were allegedly stopped just before they could board their flight. Reportedly, an EasyJet employee had contacted a duty manager about an issue she took with the appearance of Clarke’s passport.
“There was no issue with mine, but when the girl looked at Adam’s, she stopped him and started asking all these questions about whether it was valid or not,” Meenan told the Belfast Telegraph. “His passport is one of the old British passports issued nine years ago — but it is still in date for another year.”
The couple claims that Clarke had previously used the passport with no issues at BFS six months prior. The duty manager ultimately never showed up to resolve the issue, and the couple was subsequently not allowed to board before their flight departed.
[Photo: Belfast Telegraph]
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Three years ago, I had an employee traveling from Costa Rica to Washington Dulles via Salvador on Taca. The same thing happened in Sal. He was turned around at boarding in SAL and sent back to SJO. He is Asian with a USA passport, I am sure that played a role. They re-booked him and he flew the next day without incident. They actually had the gall to charge him a change fee.
Brumbrum, UK citizens need a passport for travel in Europe. We only need a drivers licence for travel to Ireland.
sounds funny, since UK and France are in the EU and they could simply fly with their ID card instead of passport. Meeting such hyperactive hyperimportant staff is the cause of unnecessary stress, they should be kicked off, not the passengers. Their work is to look if the ID and ticket names match, not to substitute the border control (and especially not on intra EU border).
The identity page is in perfect condition, the staff cannot legally refuse the passport. Easyjet have, on TV, accepted passports in worse condition than this such as burns. I'd sue them
The one to blame is the duty manager. The front line staff is supposed to look for this kind of thing, but previous posters are right, it's not necessarily their place to make the final judgment. She made the right call by summoning the duty manager...his fault for not showing up.