A PASSENGER has told how he was left stranded inside an airport terminal for three hours after a passport blunder.
Tom Solan, 52, was trapped in Manchester Airport after an easyJet employee failed to show up and escort him out of the terminal.
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The holidaymaker arrived at the designated gate for his flight to Cyprus as normal, but soon realised his passport was missing.
He was told an easyJet staff member would have to escort him from the airport – but they never showed.
The English teacher was left terrified his diabetes would be triggered and he resorted to calling the police.
Eventually an official came to the rescue, after three hours of distress.
Tom told the M.E.N he’s “never lost a passport before” and was baffled when he couldn’t find it at the gate.
He was told by security to wait back in the lounge where border control could walk him back through the airport but they never arrived.
“I’m a type one diabetic and stress is a big problem for type one diabetics because it can cause blood sugar levels to increase hugely,” he added.
Tom, who is still currently waiting for a passport replacement to fly, forked out around £867 (€1,000) on tickets and accommodation for his holiday.
An easyJet spokesman aid: “EasyJet is sorry for the delay in providing assistance to Mr Solan and for any inconvenience this may have caused him.
“Due to the increased workload of our ground staff at this busy time of year, it may occasionally take longer than usual to provide the required assistance.”
This comes as one teen’s passport blunder cost his family a £1,000 dream holiday after Ryanair wouldn’t let him on the plane.
Jake Burton, 19, was ready to go on his first-ever flight from East Midlands Airport to Benidorm for New Year’s Eve with his parents.
But, as he was about to get on the plane, he failed the final check.
Parents Rachael and Chris Burton say it was a one-centimetre tear in the teen’s passport that saw him turned away.
The mum, 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.”
Meanwhile, another woman said she was left £1,000 out of pocket after she was banned from boarding her flight to Bali because her passport was ripped.
Read more on the Scottish Sun
According to the UK government website, any damage that is “beyond wear and tear” could see you turned away at the gate.
This includes missing or detached pages, discoloured or stains on the bio-date page, or a damaged chip.
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