Holiday warning for Brits with ‘in-date’ passports as tourists are being turned away at the border
HOLIDAYMAKERS are being turned away from their flights at the airport even if their passport is said to be “in date”.
New rules introduced after Brexit continue to cause problems for tourists heading to Europe.
Previously allowing passports to be up to 10 years and nine months old, the current rules no longer allow the extra nine months that could be rolled over.
And with Europe requiring at least three months left on a passport from Brits, the two rules have caused confusion by border staff.
A UK tourist was banned from boarding her Norwegian flight from London Gatwick to Copenhagen after the airline said her passport had expired.
After trying to board her flight back in March, her passport start date was June 2015, with the expiry in August.
But the airline said this was not acceptable.
She told The Guardian: “The staff member consulted a colleague, who stated my passport was invalid because it was issued more than nine years and nine months ago.
“But there is no such rule. This decision demonstrates a fundamental misunderstanding of the actual entry requirements.”
Not only did she have to fly to Glasgow for a last-minute passport appointment, but she said she was left out of pocket £700 after missing two days of work in Copenhagen.
A Norwegian spokesperson said they were enforcing the rules as they had to “comply with local border control directives which are currently unclear”.
Earlier this year, a Norwegian staff member told The Independent that they were turning up to “six people a day” away from London Gatwick Airport due to the confusing passport rules.
The confusion is due to the two new rules – being less than 10 years old and having three months left on it – with some airlines following them both.
However, the rules can run separately to each other.
This means you can travel on a passport up to the day of it being 10 years old, as long as there are three months on the expiry.
For example, a tourist arriving in Europe on July 1, 2025 for a two week holiday can do so if their passport starts on July 2, 2015, with an expiry of December 2015.
Despite this, holidaymakers are urged to renew their passports if in doubt ahead of a holiday to avoid being banned from flying.
And Brits needing new passports will have to fork out even more after the cost of a new one increased last month.
The standard price for a passport is now £94.50 – up £6.
Passport Rules
Everything you need to know about passports
- Whether you need a passport to fly within the UK
- This is who can countersign a passport application
- How long a child’s first passport can last and cost
- A biometric passport explained
- How to renew a passport
- How to get fast-track passport renewal
- The new blue British passports explained
- Why passports come in four colours
Make sure it doesn’t have any damage either after a couple were banned from their Ryanair flight because of a page tear.
Earlier this year, two pensioners were stopped from boarding their flight because of passport “damage” – despite travelling 10,000 miles.