There was passport expiry confusion after Ryanair stopped a gran flying from an airport.
Michele Hawken, was not allowed to board a plane although she had more than three months left until her passport expired after its issue on May 15, 2012.
Rules say those visiting the EU must have documents which are less than 10 years old and have three months left before the passenger's return date
The budget airline has been criticised for a number of pre-boarding decisions across the country.
Michele's holiday group was split up at the departure gate after yet another Ryanair passport mix-up.
Nicky Ryland was one of three adults and two grandchildren flying to Faro, Portugal from Cornwall Airport Newquay last month.
It was pointed out to desk staff that Michele’s passport was in date and issued within the past 10 years. A customer service advisor has since confirmed Michele should have been able to fly.
Nicky told CornwallLive : “We arrived last week at our local airport, with three adults - two being grandparents and one mum, with two grandchildren.
"We had already checked in online and no problems. It was a surprise for both grandchildren to be going on holiday, as for one of them it was a birthday.
"We have a photo and a video of us at the airport excited to go but when we arrived at check-in having just told the grandchildren at arrival they were coming as well, we were told one granny was not able to fly.
"We had already checked with all regulations and all was ok, such as gov.uk, passports and the airport, etc.
“Ryanair check-in at the airport spent 30 minutes at least checking for us and was very helpful, but we were told it was a no due to Ryanair regulations.
"We asked why when we could have gone with any other airline and come home with Ryanair and, as you can imagine, there were lots of tears and upset.
"We have heard several cases of this happening but we had two grandchildren involved and everyone was so upset.
"We would therefore not want this to happening to other families, especially grandparents with two grandchildren going with their grannies only to be told one of them couldn’t go, spoiling the surprise holiday for us all.”
Nicky added that Michele’s grandchild joined the holiday but only after signing a permission form for him to fly with others. Heartbroken Michele was forced to wave off the party through tears.
Nicky said: “It’s awful. We always go away as friends and this was meant to be special as a surprise to the grandchildren.
"We packed their suitcases in secret and everything. They thought they were coming to the airport to wave us off.
"We’re all devastated and can’t understand how this happened and why nothing flagged up when we checked-in in advance.”
A Ryanair spokesman issued a statement which said: "This passenger was correctly refused travel at Cornwall Airport Newquay on 26 April last as her passport did not meet the entry requirements for travel to the EU (Portugal) which are:
- Passports must be issued within 10 years of the date of departure into the EU.
- The passport must be valid for at least three months from the return date of travel from the EU.
"Ms. Hawken’s passport was issued on 15 May 2012 and is therefore no longer valid for travel to/from the EU after 15 February 2022 (which is 3 months before the 10 year anniversary of issue on 15 May 2022).
"Therefore, she did not have the required three months validity remaining on her passport before her flight on 26 April 2022.
"Ryanair requires each passenger to ensure that their passport is valid for travel (as set out in 1 & 2 above) on both the date of their outbound and return flight dates."
