Britain’s biggest budget airline missed six opportunities to admit it had wrongly turned away a passenger.
In April, Jacqui McGeough was booked on an easyJet flight with her daughter, Eilidh, from Edinburgh to Naples for a four-day holiday in Italy.
When she tried to board her easyJet plane at Edinburgh airport, she was wrongly told by a member of ground staff that her passport was not valid for travel to the European Union.
Ms McGeough had painstakingly researched the post-Brexit rules for UK passport holders travelling to Europe, and knew that her travel document met both conditions:
- On the day of outbound travel, under 10 years since issue date.
- On the intended date of return, at least three months remaining before the expiry date.
The first opportunity to correct the error was when Ms McGeough appealed to a supervisor at Edinburgh airport.
But at the departure gate, the easyJet representative confirmed the original, erroneous decision to deny boarding.
“I tried to show her the published guidance,” Ms McGeough said. “But she didn’t bother to look, stated that it must be wrong and my passport did not have three months left as it would expire in May, 10 years from the issue date.
“I called the Passport Office from the departure lounge and they also gave me the same advice.
“At that point I thought I had completely misinterpreted the published guidance and left the airport.”
Over the next two days Ms McGeough established that both easyJet and HM Passport Office were wrong in what they had told her.
On 11 April she filed a complaint to easyJet, attaching a series of documents that confirmed the exact position for UK passport holders travelling to the EU.
Nine days later, Ms McGeough received the first of five refusals by email, each of them citing non-existent rules.
The essence of the response was that UK passports expire 10 years after issue, with additional months not recognised by the European Union. This is the same incorrect policy that easyJet followed until April 2022, when the airline finally agreed to fall into line with the actual rules.
But it appears that many easyJet staff still apply the misinterpretation.
Ms McGeough made repeated representations, supported by evidence from the Italian consulate andThe Independent. Each time she was turned down, she appealed – only for easyJet to…
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