Four years on from Brexit, some airport ground staff working for easyJet are still wrongly turning away passengers by inventing their own passport rules.
On 28 June, Louise McMahon was booked to fly on easyJet from Paris with her husband and two children for a three-night celebration of her 50th birthday. Her passport was valid for travel outbound to France and the rest of the European Union up to 24 September 2025 for a stay of up to 90 days – until 22 December 2025.
But in a repeat seen at easyJet departure gates across the UK, Ms McMahon was turned away from the flight. The pattern followed many other such cases: the passenger appeals against being denied boarding; a supervisor is called; they double down on the wrong decision.
Ms McMahon, who works in early years education, said: “We arrived at the airport having checked in online. We went to bag drop and I was told I could not travel on my passport because it was out of date.
“I questioned this and the woman got a colleague who confirmed I was unable to travel and the system would not allow it. I was told that I missed the travel cut off by three days because I needed “three months before the 10 years”.
This has never been the case – a fact that easyJet accepted in 2022 after months of lobbying by The Independent.
Ms McMahon said: “I didn’t argue with the staff at easyJet, we believed what they said and put it down to my own stupidity but I have since learned that my passport was valid as it was within the 10 year rule and had three months before the expiry date.
“It was my 50th birthday the following day so we had planned a special trip to Paris. I was obviously pretty horrified and told my family to go without me. They understandably refused given it was a trip for my 50th.”
The value of the flights and non-refundable hotel in Paris was £1,975. “Not to mention the obvious upset,” added Ms McMahon.
After The Independent became involved in the case, easyJet apologised to the passenger and agreed to reimburse the lost costs, as well as paying £220 in denied boarding compensation. Initially the airline refused to compensate the three other members of the party on the grounds that they could have continued with the journey and celebrated without her.
Ms McMahon responded by telling easyJet: “I do not believe anyone would reasonably expect a family to go on a trip that had been organised to celebrate someone’s 50th birthday when that person was refused. I believed I had no option to get to Paris because easyJet staff advised me that my passport was invalid.” In fact, Ms McMahon could have flown on Air France, Ryanair or any other airline.
EasyJet then agreed to pay denied boarding compensation to her husband and children.
Ms McMahon said: “The whole experience was very upsetting. I felt I had ruined a trip that we had all looked forward to and spent a lot of money on. Because we had lost such a lot of money, and I believed I was at fault, I did not feel able to celebrate my birthday in the way I had hoped at all.”
A spokesperson for easyJet said: “We are very sorry that Ms McMahon was incorrectly denied boarding on her flight from Glasgow to Paris as this is not our policy.
“We have raised this with our ground handling partner at Glasgow Airport to ensure action is taken to make sure all their team members are clear on the correct rules.
“We have been in touch with Ms McMahon to apologise and reimburse her in full as well as process the compensation she is due, along with a gesture of goodwill for her experience.”
Passport valid but the airline says ‘no’ – what to do next
