Airlines Imposing Wrong Passport Rules Post-Brexit

At lunchtime on Wednesday 10 November, Clarice Easson and her husband Alan reported to the Manchester airport departure gate for their easyJet flight to Paphos in Cyprus.

- Simon Calder

The couple, from Hoylake in the Wirral, had dropped off their bags and gone through security. But as they prepared to board, easyJet ground staff said Ms Easson could not travel –claiming her passport was not valid for travel to European Union nations, including Cyprus.

All their papers were in order ahead of the 2,123-mile trip – including a completed Cyprus flight pass to comply with the island’s Covid rule.

Ms Easson’s passport met both conditions imposed by the European Union for “third countries” – as the UK has become because of Brexit.

The document was issued on 12 January 2012 and expires on 12 June 2022, meaning it was issued within the past 10 years and has more than three months’ validity after the couple’s intended holiday.

But easyJet staff at the gate decided she could not travel.

Ms Easson’s son, David, told The Independent: “Mum was denied entry and told that they had experience of customers being turned around directly at Paphos airport.

“The staff member said she had denied several people at the gate before.”

The couple asked to take their chances at Paphos airport but were denied access to the flight.