Joshua Parfitt
RYANAIR has refused boarding to a British nurse after her face swelled up and no longer matched her passport picture.
Shannon Wotherspoon, 24, was stranded for 10 hours at Alicante airport before forking out €230 for a British Airways flight to Edinburgh.
The saga began when Shannon suffered a skin irritation that caused her face to swell up.
“My skin was all puffy and when I arrived at check-in I flagged that up. The woman at the counter gave my passport a close examination and immediately started shaking her head,” Shannon told the Daily Record.
“She also noticed a bit of water damage on the edges.
“She eventually asked a supervisor, and I could see her shaking her head and saying I couldn’t fly.
“The issue wasn’t up for debate. The only positive advice I was given was that another airline might not be as fussy as Ryanair – and that turned out to be the case.”
Shannon had other forms of ID, including a driving licence, which had exactly the ‘same’ picture as on Shannon’s passport.
Shannon’s stepdad Stephen Cross said: “I don’t understand how she was refused by Ryanair but allowed by British Airways.
“Shannon was very scared and upset.
“She was left on her own, when she should have been travelling home with her friends.”
A spokesman for Ryanair said: “It is each passenger’s individual responsibility to ensure that he/she is travelling on a valid passport (not expired and not damaged), in compliance with Ryanair’s terms and conditions.”
The low-cost airline were contacted for an explanation on why Shannon was refused boarding, but have yet to reply.
