A husband and his disabled wife were stopped by Ryanair from flying for their holiday due to a little-known rule on his passport.
Abriella Monroe, 32, said a birthday holiday to Tenerife with her husband Sebastien, who has 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 on it fly away as a result.
Glue appears to have worn away on a page of Mr Monroe’s passport, resulting in a small tear along its spine.
They had to go back through passport control to leave the airport and claim Border Force officers told them his passport was fine to travel with.
The airline operator, in response, said he was ‘correctly refused travel’, but the two said they believe the passport should have been accepted.
Mrs Monroe, a mother of three is paraplegic and her husband is also her carer.
The passport is fully in date and his details and image can be clearly seen.
Abriella Monroe, 32, pictured, said a birthday holiday to Tenerife with her husband Sebastien, who has 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 on fly away as a result
They were heading for a two week holiday to celebrate his birthday.
Mrs Monroe said they had to wait for an hour to get their checked-in luggage and her wheelchair back, which were taken off the plane.
She said: ‘It was supposed to be a birthday present and we just can’t believe it. We got to the airport at about 3.45am by taxi and all was fine.
‘We checked in at special assistance check-in. We showed our boarding passes and our passports and there was no problem.
‘We checked in our luggage and my wheelchair and once again our passes and passports were checked.
‘My husband also used his passport to exchange some money at Travelex at the airport and we got some duty free.
‘His passport was accepted and there was no issue.
‘We went through security and there was no issue and we were waiting for the gate to be called.
Glue appears to have worn away on a page of Mr Monroe’s passport, resulting in a small tear along its spine
‘We both go to the boarding gate and I show my boarding pass and passport first, and that was fine.
‘Then my husband showed the Ryanair staff his. The man took a two second look at it and said ‘you can’t travel on that’.
‘He said there was a slight rip in it and couldn’t accept it. We tried to reason with him and asked to speak to someone higher up, but it was no use. The flight was on time and we watched it leave.
‘We had to wait around then went through Border Force to exit the airport. They said there was absolutely no problem with the passport.
‘The man tried to be really polite about the situation. He said the passport was valid and we were allowed through Border Force.
‘The wheelchair and suitcase were taken off the plane and we had to wait at a carousel to collect them. We will definitely be complaining to Ryanair as soon as we get home. The passport is just slightly torn. We can fully see his details, passport number and his photograph. At this point now we are not sure what we are going to do. We are going to have to go to Liverpool to get him another passport.’
Government guidelines state HM Passport Office consider a passport to be damaged if details cannot be read; any of the pages are ripped, cut or missing; there are holes, cuts or rips in the cover; the cover is coming away or there are stains on the pages like ink or water damage.
Mrs Monroe said they last went on holiday aboard using their passports six years ago.
She added: ‘There was no issue then and his passport has been kept in a folder I use to keep documents safe, like 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 important things very safe.’
Ryanair, in response, said the passport was ripped on the identification page at the seam and across the page.
A spokesperson said: ‘The UK Passport Office defines what constitutes as a damaged passport, not Ryanair.
‘This passenger was correctly refused travel from Manchester to Tenerife as his passport was damaged and therefore not valid for travel.’
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