A WOMAN was kicked off her flight to Tenerife due to new passport rules in place.

Aya Shillingford, 36, said she has been left £2,000 out of pocket after her New Year plans to Spain were left in ruins.

Despite being able to board her Jet2 flight at London Stansted Airport last Thursday, she said she was hauled off because her passport had been issued more than 10 years ago.

New Brexit rules no longer allow any additional months on passports over 10 years, with previous rules allowing holders to carry up to nine months over from their previous documents.

This is despite expiry dates suggesting they would still be in date, with Ava's expiry date being June 28, 2022.

She told the Evening Standard: "We had arrived at the airport in good time, made it through security and dropped off our bags.

"Two members of staff – at security and at the gate for the flight – had already checked our passports and not raised any issue.

“But when we got on the flight suddenly there was a big commotion. A Jet2 staff member took my passport and said ‘I’m sorry but you can’t fly, this was issued over ten years ago’.

“Then we were frog-marched off the plane and back to the airport. Everyone was staring at us.”

She said she was left "sobbing" after staff told her it was "her fault" for not checking – and warned she would not get her money back for her holiday.

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The only way she would have been able to fly out was with an emergency passport, but said the first available appointment was today, leaving her plans "ruined".

The government website states: “​​Your passport must also be less than ten-years-old on the day after you leave. If you renewed your current passport before the previous one expired, extra months may have been added to its expiry date.

"Any extra months on your passport over ten years may not count towards the minimum period needed.”

A Jet2 spokesperson said: “We always follow Government advice relating to passport validity and we remind customers to check the validity of their passport in our pre-departure communications.

“We also point them to our Travel Requirements page on our website, where they can find more information on how to ensure that their passport is valid for travel and in line with Government advice.

“Unfortunately, Ms Shillingford’s passport was not valid for travel, and our teams noticed this before boarding. We would like to apologise to Ms Shillingford for this experience.”

"RUINED"

Many Brits have already fallen victim to the new rules – passenger Abi Campbell was stopped from boarding her flight back to Glasgow from Tenerife after thinking her passport was valid.

Despite expiring in May 2022, the issue date was August 2011 – meaning it was only valid up to August 2021.

Another woman lost her £2,600 dream holiday due to a similar passport mistake.

She told Gazette Live that she only realised after booking the holiday and the travel agent checked her passport.

She said: "In my case, the issue date was September 15, 2011.

"Add ten years on – and it took me to September 15, 2021, which meant there wasn't enough time left on my passport."

Here are the other new rules and restrictions in place this year due to Brexit.

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