EasyJet denies valid compensation claims by doubling down on incorrect EU passport rules

Having wrecked countless summer holidays by imposing non-existent passport validity rules, easyJet has been compounding the misery for passengers by routinely rejecting their valid requests for compensation.

Since the UK left the European Union, British passports must meet two independent conditions:

Airlines including easyJet and Ryanair bizarrely chose to impose more stringent rules until The Independent convinced them to comply with the actual European regulations. Typically they conflated the two conditions, falsely claiming that no passport could be older than nine years and nine months on the date of outbound travel. Some staff also said children’s passports expired after five years.

Once the carriers accepted their mistakes, victims could pursue claims for recompense. But staff working for easyJet continued to misrepresent the rules to avoid paying out compensation due to passengers.

Earlier this month The Independent was assured twice in two weeks that customer service staff at Britain’s biggest budget airline had been reminded of the law. But new evidence has emerged of easyJet staff systemically blaming passengers and refusing compensation claims that are clearly valid.

Three recent cases expose the severity of the problem.

After the airline wrongly deprived a 70-year-old grandmother of a family celebration holiday to Disneyland Paris in April, easyJet repeatedly refused compensation.

When The Independent contacted easyJet on the family’s behalf, the airline blamed a “misunderstanding” by both the airport staff and the customer service agent and paid the compensation that was due.

The airline said it was “reissuing guidance to our customer teams, to ensure current passport validity rules are clear”.

Yet a week later, Tracey Robbens from Penzance in Cornwall, was blamed by easyJet for being unable to fly from Gatwick to Ljubljana in mid-January. 

In rejecting her valid claim, an airline customer service agent gave a nonsensical explanation: “I can confirm that the issue date of your passport is 24th Jan 2022 and was valid till the issue date but it was not valid for six months upon arrival.”

Again, easyJet insisted wrongful refusal of compensation would not happen again, telling The Independent: “We have followed up on this case to ensure all of our team are clear on current passport validity…