A family from Hampshire lost £3,000 on a holiday after the mother was denied boarding due to a post-Brexit passport rule. Nina Gurd was told her passport, which expires in February, was not valid for travel to Portugal.
Mrs Gurd arrived at Bournemouth Airport confident she had more than the required three months before expiry, as her passport had been extended when renewed. However, she was informed the expiry date was irrelevant; the passport must be within 10 years of the issue date.
Her passport was originally issued on 29 May 2012, meaning it would have expired next month. But she renewed it early, adding nine months, giving a new expiry date of 28 February 2023. The family, including husband John and sons Jack, Harry, and Charlie, were forced to return home on 15 April, missing their Algarve holiday.
Mr Gurd said: 'When we were booking our holiday, we were only ever asked for our passport numbers and the expiry dates, nothing else.' Portugal is among 26 Schengen Area countries. Post-Brexit, some EU countries insist passports must be no more than 10 years old from issue, meaning with the three-month buffer, a passport must be issued no more than nine years and nine months ago.
The Foreign Office said its website has warned travellers for years about potential issues with passports lasting longer than 10 years. Mr Gurd added: 'Given there is this new rule, it should be easy enough for the government, travel companies and airlines to ask the right questions. We've got to get the message out that the expiry date on your passport is meaningless.'
