Originally Posted by
Often1
Here is what TIMATIC says. It is what the KL agent would have seen
Passports and passport replacing documents of all visitors
must contain at least 1 unused visa page for Visa
Administration Sticker (VAS), stamps, etc. Please note that
this does not include the page reserved for Observations
or "Amendments and Endorsements".
OP played it too cute. Even though it may be that Tanzania did not actually need a full page, it requires one to have a full page. Doesn't matter that OP already had his visa.
Don't know why KL allowed OP to fly the next day. Perhaps the second agent misread, someone called and learned that they don't enforce the requirement or whatever.
But, OP wasn't improperly denied boarding. So, no compensation for anything under EC 261/2004 or otherwise.
For a start, Timatic says that the page is needed for the VAS, stamps, etc... If you already have your visa, you do not need space for the VAS since you already have it. It seems to me that Timatic is, at best, ambiguous on what happens when one already has a visa (since it does not seem to contemplate that situation). The agent should really have communicated with Tanzanian authorities to clarify the issue. In any event, even if Timatic was crystal clear, Timatic is not an official channel of communication of the Tanzanian authorities and it cannot be ruled out that Timatic might be wrong. Should that be the case, we would be in a situation of denied boarding.
Personally, I do not believe that I have enough information nor know enough about Tanzanian formal requirements from a sufficiently authoritative source to form a definitive view. Not only is Timatic ambiguous but it is also not, from this perspective, a sufficiently authoritative source: it is merely a private database set up and maintained by IATA. IATA is a private trade association, not a Tanzanian governmental authority.