Denied boarding at Oslo airport
 

My wife got an emergency call because her mother in Tanzania is ill. We booked a ticket with Qatar, flying from Oslo to Dar es Salaam, through Doha. Then we noticed that her passport had expired. We managed to get an Emergency Passport which lasts for 6 months.
She only had a carry-on, so she checked in and went to the gate in Oslo. Then they would not let her board because of the Emergency Passport. My wife told them that Tanzania allows her to enter, and even if Qatar border won’t, she will only transit in Doha. The purser sent off an email (I suppose to flight manager), because crew seemed in uncertain whether she could transit. They replied that she could not board. She lost the flight.
After this happened we have checked numerous websites, and they all state that we are correct. She should’ve been able to travel. We do not know what the purser wrote in the email, and it all happened quickly because flight had to depart.

Does anyone have any suggestions how to take this matter up with Qatar Airways? If they have made a mistake due to misunderstanding between crew and flight manager, then there should be some form of compensation for this. My wife is devastated because of her not being able to travel with her sister to see their mother, and since the airline most certainly was wrong, I just feel that this is very unjust.

The Emergency Passport was issued by which country?
I am asking because Norwegian citizens may need a e-visa to enter Tanzania.

Are you sure that was the purser? The purser is usually inside the plane while passengers are boarding.
My guess is that the "purser" was an underpaid contract agent (possibly Menzies), who was in charge checking the documents.

Thanks,

The passport was issued by Norway.
The visa she usually obtains on arrival, which has never been an issue before. The passport was the issue.

You are quite right, I double checked with her. It wasn’t the purser, it was one of the people at the counter where she tried to board the plane.

Which country was the emergency passport issued by? They don't have the same status as normal passports.
The person who supposedly emailed is just a normal check-in agent. 'Flight managers' don't exist.
You can use TIMATIC to check the entry requirements and if it says your wife is not allowed to enter, you can't do anything as it is the passenger's responsibility to check that they fit the entry requirements of their destination.

A quick check on Timatic indicates that Tanzania requires visitor's passport to be valid for a minimum of 6 months from the date of entry. If the validity of your wife's emergency passport was exactly 6 months (from date of issue), that would have been the reason for denied boarding.

1. What does TIMATIC say? In particular, does Tanzania still issue visas on arrival to citizens of Norway?

2. If you're right and the airline doesn't do the right thing, you might want to file a dispute with your credit card and/or file an EC261 claim for denied boarding since this was a flight departing the EU. There's also small claims court, which might be a possibility in Norway since the airline operates there and presumably sold you the ticket with Norway as the POS.

3. BTW, did you buy the ticket directly from Qatar? Can we assume that it's totally nonrefundable and nonchangeable?

Tanzania doesn't allow emergency passports issued by Norway.
https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...e11a0bc317.png

Unfortunately for OP's wife, she was properly denied boarding and thus, there is no EC 261/2004 denied boarding claim nor is she entitled to rebooking unless that is a feature of the fare rules of the ticket she purchased (very unlikely).

Passports and other documents accepted for entry must be
valid for a minimum of 6 months from the arrival date.

Presuming that she purchased her ticket from QR, she should go back to QR and ask to be rebooked. To the extent that she can do this in person at OSL, it is far better than calling in. But, if she has no option, then call.

She should rebook for a time which permits her to obtain proper documents. Best to check TIMATIC as requirements may change.

For the benefit of others, carriers are strictly scrutinizing documents and that results in a lot more denied boardings than in the past. Even if something has always been a given way in the past, check TIMATIC regularly and then again before departing for the airport.

Thanks,
1: I don’t have access to Timatic, but from what we have searched, and from previous trips, they issue visa on arrival for Norwegians.

2: trying to find out if we are right.

3: Yes, ticket is refundable.

thanks,

where did you find this information?

That baffles me. Why do German citizens have to apply for a e-visa beforehand and Norwegians receive a visa on arrival? Is there sth. special in the relationship between Tanzania and Norway?

According to the TIMATIC entry, "Visa required, except for Nationals of Norway, or: TWOV (Transit Without Visa)."

One would have to make inquiry of the government of Tanzania as to why it chooses to exempt Norwegian nationals from amongst all others.

But, the problem is that the emergency passport validity is almost certainly the key. Had to be 6 months from date of arrival and, if a 6-month document, almost certainly 6 months + some number of days by the time OP's wife obtained the document and made it to border control.

Her passport expires 15.10.

my biggest question is this one:

I am not able to find out where this information is.

I doubt there is an official website free for all (TIMATIC is commercial service sold to airlines so that they could check documents).

Expertflyer (subscription service) has TIMATIC.

Or you can use this page (it seems to work).

I tried entering your data, and for whatever reason, the "emergency passport" is the cause of the problem (changing the document type to "Passport: Normal" with the same expiration date seems fine).

No idea what you have to do in case the information in TIMATIC is incorrect - because it's pretty much the reference all airlines use.

You can use this https://www.iatatravelcentre.com/pas...quirements.htm When people say "check TIMATIC" this is what they usually mean. Airlines have a different, 'paid-for' interface marketed as TIMATIC but the underlying database is essentially the same thing.