A newlywed couple were left “heartbroken” after being banned from boarding their honeymoon flight for a “pathetic” reason.
Four days after their wedding, Nottinghamshire pair Joe Barnes and Rebecca Bestwick-Barnes were supposed to travel to Ayia Napa, Cyprus on August 6 for their honeymoon.
Bestwick-Barnes, a 38-year-old civil servant, said: “We were all excited and happy but they wouldn’t allow us to use the passport.
“We were absolutely heartbroken at the airport.”
She described it as a “kick in the teeth” as they were previously “on cloud nine”.
The couple had used wedding money to book the holiday last-minute but the incident “put a dampener on the whole thing”.
A newlywed couple were left ‘heartbroken’ after they were stopped from boarding their honeymoon flight
|
GOFUNDME
Forklift driver Barnes said: “To get refused at the airport like that, in front of the queues, is just embarrassing.”
He added: “I think it’s pathetic I got denied boarding for that tiny rip.”
The pair stayed at the airport for two hours trying to think of a solution before they decided nothing was possible.
The 35-year-old said he was left confused by the rejection, as he had previously used the same passport for his stag do to Magaluf just three weeks earlier.
MORE AIRPORT CHAOS:
The planned £1,200 trip with Tui was halted when airport workers noticed a small rip in Barnes’s passport
|
PA
According to HM Passport Office, a passport will be considered damaged if any of the pages are “ripped, cut or missing”.
Tui said Barnes was refused travel because his passport was “very badly damaged”.
The airline claimed it was following Government advice, and added that staff found the document to be water-damaged with one small tear in the corner of a page.
A spokesman for Swissport, which provides ground support at the airport, said: “We follow the UK Passport Office guidance which states that damaged passports, including ones with ripped pages, must be replaced.
“We’d encourage all travellers to check their passports before travelling, and refer to official websites such as Gov.uk for guidance.”
The couple are now hoping to reschedule their trip for when their kids are back at school, but said they were unlikely to get a pay-our from their insurance.
A friend, meanwhile, has set up a fundraiser – which has raised more than £800 so far.
