Father hits out at BA for banning him from flight - despite having valid passport

A father has hit out at British Airways after he was wrongly stopped from travelling with his family to the south of France for failing to have “correct documentation”.

Toby Keen checked in online for the flight from Heathrow to Nice, but when he and his family got to the airport he was told he couldn’t fly because his passport had just under three months to run, the Independent reported.

Instead, Mr Keen’s wife and two daughters were forced to travel without him to the wedding they were attending, which took place over the August bank holiday weekend.

The 48-year-old, from Oxfordshire, told the Independent that when he rushed to the Passport Office in central London to get a new passport, he was told his original was fully valid to travel to France.

Mr Keen and his family had successfully checked in online at home and made their way to Heathrow. But at the Bag Drop desk, he said he was told that he could not fly.

Mistake - Mr Keen was told he needed a new passport, but this was apparently an error (Pictures: Getty)

He told the Independent: “This was a complete shock. When I challenged the agent, he blamed French immigration and said that BA would be fined £25,000 if he let me fly.

“I was left with no option but to let my family continue on and I would have to sort out the mess.”

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Mr Keen called the Passport Office advice line from Heathrow but was reportedly told nothing could be done until after the Bank Holiday, so went to the main office in central London and where he managed eventually to get a new passport.

“The main sticking point was that the staff said my passport was fully valid for France so what was the issue?”, he said.

No problem - Mr Keen was reportedly told there was nothing wrong with his original passport

To add insult to injury, when he tried to re-book a flight with BA, Mr Keen says he was told he had been recorded as a “no-show” on his original flight and would need to pay £600 to fly on an early-evening flight. He reportedly chose a later departure, which cost £210.

When he complained to British Airways, Mr Keen was apparently originally told the issue was his fault because he had an old-style passport that had to be valid for at least three months after his intended stay.

The airline reportedly later admitted that this was wrong and it will be in touch with Mr Keen to resolve the situation.