“I’m turning away six people a day for out-of-date passports” – that was the stark claim from a ground handler working for Norwegian at Gatwick airport.
The staff member had just needlessly wrecked a family’s surprise birthday trip to Copenhagen by misrepresenting the passport validity rules that have applied for British travellers for the past four years.
Caroline Wright from Brighton and daughter Tess had arranged for a 60th birthday surprise trip to Copenhagen for her husband Steve.
He learnt of the destination only at 6.45am on Friday morning when they arrived at London Gatwick airport to check in for Norwegian flight 3511 to the Danish capital.
The family all had passports compliant with the post-Brexit rules for British travellers to the European Union:
- On the day of outbound travel, less than 10 years since the issue date.
- On the intended day of return, at least three months remaining before the expiry date.
The Independent informed all the leading airlines of the rules in 2021, soon after they took effect.
But Caroline Wright says the ground staff were confused about whether the passports were valid.
“The Norwegian ground crew lady in the area looked at the passports and thought there maybe was something wrong with them – but was not sure and did not seem to know the rules,” she said.
“She thought it maybe mine as it expires in June this year. She asked me to talk with her male colleague who was stationed at the baggage check-in desk. He was not sure, but photographed both mine and Steve’s passports and sent them to his supervisor.
“Whilst we were waiting, another colleague next to him asked him the issue and she said they should be OK.
“By this point it was a rollercoaster of emotions.”
Bizarrely, the supervisor decided to apply a rule that has never existed.
“They claimed that Steve’s passport was invalid since there was not three months left until the date of 31 March 2025 when she said it ‘expired’ due to the 10-year-rule of when it was issued.”
There is no such rule. Mr Wright’s passport, which The Independent has seen, is valid for travel out to the European Union up to the end of March for a stay of up to a month.
Mrs Wright said: “By this point my stress levels were through the roof and I was feeling very faint. Up until 10 minutes previous to this my husband had no…
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