A woman who was refused boarding a Mallorca flight at the airport broke down in tears

“At first I thought it was a joke.”

A woman who was refused boarding a Mallorca flight at the airport broke down in tears

Yesterday 08/24/2023 | 14:58

The perfect holiday in the sun was supposed to be on the famous Spanish island of Mallorca: but for the British holidaymaker, the trip ended abruptly before it even began. A small but crucial mistake during airport check-in prevented the 28-year-old from going on her dream vacation.

Confusion about invalid passport

The incident occurred when the young woman entered the customs area of ​​the airport and her travel documents were checked. To her surprise, the customs officials told her that she could not fly because her passport was not valid.

“At first I thought it was a joke,” she later told Britain’s The Mirror. But when she realized she wasn’t going to get on the plane that day, she was in shock: “I panicked and burst into tears. It was the one thing I had been looking forward to all year.”

The 28-year-old’s confusion stemmed from the fact that her passport was still valid for seven months. But this is not enough within the European Union, she was told at the airport.

New Brexit regulation bans holidays in Mallorca

Reason: New travel regulations as a result of Brexit. Since the UK left the European Union, new travel regulations have been applied to British citizens. These stipulate that a passport for travel to the European Union must be no more than ten years old, regardless of when it expires.

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In this case, the British woman’s passport was valid until March 2024, but in August 2023 it was already too old to meet the requirements – because the passport was exactly ten years and one day old!

Many Britons are not sufficiently familiar with this regulation, and even tour operators often provide information about this important innovation in small print. As a result, the organizers refused to refund the more than £1,000 already paid British women’s holiday.

By Janina Holley