Jansen Porter was prevented from boarding a flight to Kefalonia, Greece, at Gatwick Airport because her passport, issued in March 2016, exceeded the European Union's 10-year limit, despite not expiring until December 2026. The incident ruined her family's first holiday, planned for her daughter's fourth birthday, and cost an additional £800 to rebook. Jet2 staff enforced the little-known post-Brexit regulation, and she urges travelers to check their passport issue dates.
A mum-of-one was left in tears at the airport after being prevented from boarding a flight to a £2,500 holiday she had spent months saving for, all due to a little-known passport regulation .
Jansen Porter, a property maintenance apprentice from Milton Keynes in Buckinghamshire, had been hoping to fly to Kefalonia, Greece, with her partner and daughter Lulu Smith on May 11 when the incident occurred. As her luggage was being checked in at Gatwick Airport, she claims Jet2 staff informed her that her passport fell outside the European Union's 10-year limit. She has since alleged that the little-known post-Brexit rule "ruined" her family holiday.
Her passport does not expire until December 2026, but as it was issued more than 10 years ago in March 2016, the expiry date recognised by the EU is March 2026. Jansen said Jet2 staff explained to her that, as passports no longer carried a nine-month carryover, she was unable to board the aircraft, reports the Irish Mirror.
The situation was made all the more heartbreaking as the trip had been planned to mark her daughter’s fourth birthday, and both she and her partner had been setting money aside since Christmas to fund it. Reflecting on the holiday and her reasons for choosing Kefalonia, Jansen said: "I was absolutely devastated and heartbroken. This was our first holiday. I booked Kefalonia because it's actually where my mum took me for our first holiday when I was young.
"My daughter was really looking forward to it, we had this planned for a couple of months and we saved for it. It ruined it for us. How is that legal? You pay for a passport, it gives you an expiry date, why does nothing tell you.
"Clearly the expiry date doesn't count for anything, it's all about the issue date. That's insane, why is there nothing to tell you about this?
" Jansen continued, expressing further astonishment at being prevented from boarding because she encountered no problems during online check-in, with the issue only becoming apparent at the airport. She recalled: "They looked at mine, because mine was a burgundy one, and they were like 'yeah yours is not within the EU 10 years'. I said 'it's not expired' and they were like 'but the EU doesn't care'.
"We had Brexit. Why has this not been sorted? It should have been an automatic thing sent to everyone saying if you have a passport you need to go and get it renewed.
" The devastating blow had an instant effect on Jansen, who broke down in tears after losing a holiday she had worked so hard to afford. She recalled: "I was in tears in the airport, I just had a complete breakdown.
"You're having to go against the tide of people walking in, you kind of get hysterical a bit. I'd seen nothing about this on travel , there were no warning signs when you go through check-in.
" Despite her initial travel plans being disrupted, Jansen managed to rebook her holiday, though at an additional cost of £800. She has since urged fellow travellers to verify their passports to avoid falling into the same trap. She added: "Make sure that your issue date is 10 years. I think it needs to be more well known, I think companies need to make it mandatory to make sure they're saying this.
"Expiry means expiry. Nobody else on this planet looks at an expiry date and goes 'oh the expiry date is January, I should change it now in March', it doesn't work. Just check your passport. It's not well known enough. " Jet2 has been approached for comment.
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Mum in tears after being stopped from boarding Jet2 holiday over passport ruleJansen Porter, from Milton Keynes in Buckinghamshire, was due to fly to Kefalonia, Greece, with her partner and daughter Lulu Smith on May 11 when Jet2 staff at Gatwick Airport informed her that her passport did not meet the EU's 10-year rule
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