A scheduled flight, a usual destination and a farewell that did not happen as planned. A 70-year-old British citizen was prevented from returning to Portugal after watching a friend’s funeral. The reason was related to the passport and left it without flight and no refund.
David Burton, retired, had lived for more than three decades in Portimão, Algarve. He had temporarily returned to the United Kingdom, specifically to Cornwall, to pay one last tribute to his nearest friend. When trying to return home, on the Ryanair flight with expected exhibition from Exeter to Faro, he was prevented from boarding.
A tear without apparent importance
According to the British newspaper The Sun, the refusal was based on a small tear in one of the passport pages, caused years earlier by a luggage sticker. Damage was located on the document’s observations page, which in this case contained no official annotation.
According to the same source, the septuagenarian will have presented the passport during the check-in process. The airline team retained the document for evaluation and eventually reported that, due to Ryanair’s policy on documentation, the passenger could not travel.
No warning at the previous borders
The citizen said they had used the same passport on multiple trips within Europe without any contestation. According to the same source, the treatment received from the airline employees left the traveler “shaken and scared”, a feeling aggravated by the recent personal loss.
He writes the same newspaper that, in the face of the impossibility of boarding, was suggested to the passenger to look for alternatives at Bristol or Gatwick airports. The cost of change implied the purchase of a new ticket with Companhia Jet2, as well as additional expenses with land transport.
No obstacles the next day
It refers to the same source that, the next day, David Burton managed to board from Bristol. The check-in took place without incidents and the agents considered the document valid. Upon arriving in Faro, he questioned local border control, which did not identify any passport problem.
The Sun underlines that the elderly was surprised to have been prevented from flying in a context that, to the Portuguese border authorities, had no irregularity.
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Company policy and rules in force
According to Ryanair, the impediment of boarding was the result of a correct application of the rules. The company justified the decision based on the integrity of the document presented, which it considered damaged and, therefore, invalid for travel purposes.
The Sun’s head of travel, Lisa Minot, explained that, after Brexit, the rules for traveling between the United Kingdom and the European Union became more rigorous. In addition to the maximum validity of ten years, passports must be at least three months valid for the date of return.
Several demands according to destination
Adds the publication that, in addition to European rules, some countries impose supplementary conditions, such as blank pages or minimum validity of six months. South Africa, for example, requires a clean and half -year page.
Explains the publication that, even passports that are still on time, but with physical damages, can be refused according to the evaluation of airlines. According to, up to 100,000 British per year may face similar obstacles because they are unaware of or underestimate these criteria.
Unforeseen consequences of small details
The refusal of boarding led the passenger to a set of unexpected spending and a feeling of “frustration” added by the delicate personal moment. Despite being able to return the house, David Burton described the experience as “humiliating” and referred to the treatment received as “criminal.”
This case underlines the importance of verifying the integrity of the passport and knowing the specific requirements of destination before traveling. Even seemingly harmless changes can be interpreted as a violation of air transport rules.
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