Ryanair stopped man boarding flight because of ‘1cm tear in his passport’

'We had gone through all the checks but right at the very end, Ryanair turned us away.'

A man was not allowed to board a flight for his first ever holiday abroad because of a tiny tear in his passport, he has claimed.

Jake Burton was all ready to board the flight to Benidorm with his parents for a New Year’s holiday at East Midlands Airport on Thursday.

But Ryanair turned him away at the gate last second due a 1cm rip in the passport, leaving the family £1,067.64 out of pocket.

The 19-year-old’s parents, Rachael and Chris, refused to leave their son and walked back down the runway with their son after being asked to leave.

Speaking to The Sun, Rachael said: ‘We had gone through all the checks but right at the very end, Ryanair turned us away.

‘It was absolutely heartbreaking. It would have been one thing if he had been turned away at the first instance, but to get to the gate you start getting into holiday mode and it’s just awful.

‘The worst part was this woman wouldn’t even look him in the eye when she told us no.

‘It was his first time flying, his first time going abroad. We were all devastated.

‘We were going with friends and they had been trying to get us to Benidorm for years.’

Thankfully the hotel they were due to stay accepted payment on arrival, which would have cost them £800.

But Rachael said her son has been ‘put off flying for life’ as he thinks it is his fault.

Ryanair has been contacted for comment.

Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk.

For more stories like this, check our news page.