Ryanair refused boarding over passenger locator form

Photograph: David Burton/Alamy

I was recently refused boarding for a Ryanair flight from Kyiv to London because I had not completed a passenger locator form. I explained that as I was only transiting through London – I had another Ryanair flight booked on to Málaga – I would complete the form while waiting for the second flight. However, they would not listen and refused to let me board. I had to spend a night in a hotel and buy two new flights for the next day. I sent a recorded delivery letter to Ryanair explaining what had happened but have had no reply.
MM, by email

I am sorry but I am very much going to side with Ryanair on this. Passengers are only deemed to be transiting a country if they have a single through-ticket.

You bought two Ryanair singles and, as such, would have been required to collect any luggage and enter the UK through the border.

The UK government’s website states that those doing a “landside” transit – as you did – have to fill in the passenger locator form before they travel to England. Those who transit airside, without going through the border, don’t have to. And as anyone who has been on a recent Ryanair flight will confirm, the airline repeatedly warns passengers that they must fill in these forms or risk being denied boarding if they don’t. On that basis, I don’t think you have a claim.

If you are travelling anywhere in the next few weeks, it really pays to make sure you understand all the current rules as the financial consequences can be horrible.

And finally …

As more people expect parcels for Christmas, a reminder not to fall for scam texts claiming to be from a courier company saying a delivery is due, or “sorry we missed you”. A link asks for personal details, then victims are called and persuaded they are speaking to their bank’s fraud department and need to move money into a “safe account”. TSB says that in October, 81% of text-based scams involving its customers began with a message claiming to be from a delivery firm.

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