A husband and his disabled wife were prevented from flying on holiday by Ryanair due to a little-known rule in their passport.
Abriella Monroe, 32, said a birthday holiday in Tenerife with her husband Sebastien, who just turned 36, has been ruined.
The angry couple, from Wythenshawe, Manchester, told how they had to watch the Ryanair flight they should have been flying on as a result.
The glue appears to have worn off on a page of Mr Monroe’s passport, causing a small tear in the spine, which Ms Monroe said led to them not being allowed on their flight.
They had to go through passport control again to leave the airport and claim Border Force officers told them they could travel with their passport.
The airline operator, in response, said he had been “properly denied travel,” but the two said they believed the passport should have been accepted.
Mrs. Monroe, a mother of three, is paraplegic and her husband is also her caregiver.
The passport is completely updated and your details and image can be seen clearly.
Abriella Monroe, 32, pictured, said a birthday holiday in Tenerife with her husband Sebastien, who just turned 36, has been ruined.
The angry couple, from Wythenshawe, Manchester, told how they had to watch the Ryanair flight they should have been flying on as a result.
They were heading on a two-week vacation to celebrate his birthday.
Ms Monroe said they had to wait an hour to retrieve her checked luggage and wheelchair, which were removed from the plane.
She said: ‘It was supposed to be a birthday present and we just can’t believe it. We arrived at the airport around 3.45am by taxi and everything was fine.
‘We checked in at special assistance check-in. We showed our boarding passes and passports and there was no problem.
‘We searched our luggage and my wheelchair and they again checked our passes and passports.
‘My husband also used his passport to exchange some money at Travelex at the airport and we got some tax free.
‘His passport was accepted and there was no problem.
‘We went through security and there was no problem and we were waiting for the knock on the door.
The glue appears to have worn off on a page of Mr Monroe’s passport, causing a small tear in the spine.
‘We both went to the boarding gate and I showed my boarding pass and passport first, and it was fine.
“Then my husband showed his to the Ryanair staff. The man looked at it for two seconds and said, “You can’t travel with that.”
‘He said there was a slight tear and he couldn’t accept it. We tried to reason with him and asked to speak to someone higher up, but it was useless. The flight arrived on time and we watched it leave.
‘We had to wait and then went through Border Force to leave the airport. They said there was absolutely no problem with the passport.
‘The man tried to be very polite about the situation. He said the passport was valid and we were allowed through Border Force.
‘The wheelchair and the suitcase were taken off the plane and we had to wait on a carousel to pick them up. We will definitely complain to Ryanair as soon as we get home. The passport is slightly torn. We can fully see your details, passport number and your photograph. Right now we’re not sure what we’re going to do. We’ll have to go to Liverpool to get him another passport.
Government guidelines state that HM Passport Office considers a passport to be damaged if the details cannot be read; any of the pages are torn, cut or missing; there are holes, cuts or tears in the cover; the cover is peeling off or there are stains on the pages such as ink or water damage.
Mrs Monroe said the last time they went on holiday on board using their passports was six years ago.
He added: “There was no problem then and his passport was stored in a folder that I use to store secure documents, such as my children’s birth certificates and my medical notes.” Nothing has ever happened to any of the other documents, not a tear or anything. I keep all the important things very safe.’
Ryanair, in response, said the passport was torn on the identification page at the seam and throughout the page.
A spokesperson said: “What constitutes a damaged passport is defined by the UK Passport Office, not Ryanair.
“This passenger was correctly denied travel from Manchester to Tenerife because his passport was damaged and therefore not valid for travel.”