Mum banned from flight due to passport mistake – but her kids still flew

A MUM was banned from her Ryanair flight after making a mistake with her passport – forcing her kids to travel without her.

Kate Barke and her two daughters aged 9 and 11 were travelling from London Stansted to Majorca, along with their aunt, for their holiday.

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Despite being able to check in, Ms Barke was stopped at the gate as she was boarding, due to her passport.

Her passport had an expiry of February 2023 – however new rules mean it cannot be more than 10 years old, which it was.

She told the Independent: “The kids were inconsolable. I was panicking, they [were] hysterical. It was hugely traumatic.”

Her sister, who was already on the plane, was forced to get off and look after her two daughters, boarding the flight with them.

Ms Barke was forced to stay behind, but said she was offered “no help or assistance” and had to go back to the terminal to find her bags which has been offloaded.”

While she managed to get an emergency same-day passport renewal, meaning she could fly the next day, said she has been left £500 out of pocket due to the easy mistake.

She said: “The system is flawed. If check in only requires the expiry date of a passport when in actual fact it’s the issue date that it boils down to, and subsequently can result in this kind of horrendous situation, the aviation industry has some big changes to put in place.”

A Ryanair spokesperson said: “This passenger was correctly denied travel as her passport did not meet the entry requirements for travel to the EU (Spain).

“Once advised by our handling agents in London Stansted that she was not permitted to take this flight to Spain with her two children, the passenger advised our handling agents that her sister-in-law was also taking the same flight and could accompany her two children on the flight.”

Under new rules since Brexit, a passport must have at least three months’ validity remaining and be less than 10 years old.

Other passengers have been banned from their flights for the same reason.

A four-year-old boy was turned away from his flight to a similar problem with his passport expiry.

An elderly couple lost £5,000 on their holiday flights after one of their passports was technically out of date.

And a woman’s £2,000 holiday was ruined for the same reason.

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