A British Airways passenger was left fuming after they were told they couldn’t board their flight because UK passports “expire after nine years”. Laura Savage, 35, from Oxfordshire, was due to board a flight from London Heathrow to Norway on November 4 and had left home early, parked her car and easily passed through security en route to her gate.
But, despite arriving prepared for her 7.55am flight, she was unexpectedly halted by gate staff.
They said her passport, which was valid for outbound travel to Norway and other Schengen Zone nations, was expired, as it was nine years old.
Despite also possessing a valid ticket, she was refused passage on flight BA762 to Oslo, and the airline kept her fare.
The outraged property stylist was forced to escalate the matter to customer service in a bid to retrieve her money, but to her shock, they sided with the BA staff.
When Ms Savage contacted BA’s customer service department to complain about the decision, she was told staff hadn’t allowed her to board the flight as she didn’t have a valid passport.
Undeterred, she emailed BA more than 10 times, including proof that her passport met post-Brexit travel requirements, but she received no follow-up response.
She decided to take the matter to the press, telling the Independent it was “beyond frustrating” to deal with the airline’s complaint teams.
The only way she could speak with BA was via email, but she said customer services were “just not responding to me”.
Ms Savage added: “I had to forfeit my trip, plus waste my money on the plane ticket, parking and fuel, when this was not my fault, but theirs.”
BA staff had earlier insisted that UK passports are no longer valid for travel to the European Union and Schengen area nine years following their issue date.
But this is not the case, as pre-Brexit rules meant passports were valid until the day they expired, and post-Brexit, they must be at least 10 years old on the day of outbound travel.
When returning, the passport must be at least three months away from expiry, meaning Ms Savage was eligible to take her planned flight in November.
BA has since apologised for the confusion, with a spokesman saying: “We’re sorry for our customer’s experience, and our teams are working hard to resolve this matter.”
