A WEST Cork couple’s hopes of taking a trip of a lifetime to India were dashed on Monday after the airline company, Emirates, quibbled over a wrinkle in one of the passports and refused to issue them with boarding passes.
Paul Finucane said he and his wife Aileen were ‘frustrated, disappointed and angry’ at the appalling way Emirates treated them, and the loss of their €6,500 holiday.
Paul said the airline is now compounding the problem by making it ‘more than difficult’ to get any redress through their insurers.
The couple – who are known in West Cork as philanthropists and patrons of the arts, having established the Cnoc Buí Community Arts Centre in Union Hall – said: ‘Emirates just doesn’t seem to care. They haven’t been able to answer the question why the same passport has been accepted by various airlines 36 times in the past 12 months.’
Paul said Emirates themselves were happy to accept Aileen’s passport as recently as April, when she flew with the airline to Australia.
The couple said their flight to India was to leave Dublin Airport on Monday night and they arrived almost four hours early such was their level of enthusiasm for the post-retirement trip.
But Aileen’s passport was not accepted by Emirates at the check-in desk and they declined to issue them with boarding passes.
‘This was despite our attempt to explain to them that the very tiny imperfection was something that looks like a tiny nibble, or bubble, on the corner of a page,’ said Paul.
‘We explained that the minor imperfection had been there for about three-and-a-half years and that Aileen had travelled extensively on it over that period.’
In the past 12 months alone, Paul said she has been over and back to the States and Australia many times.
In fact, the couple estimated that the passport has been through check-in desks, or passport control, on at least 36 occasions without any issues.
Paul said they spoke to their tour operators but the Travel Department told them the only thing they could do would be to apply for an emergency passport the following day.
The company also told them that they would try to get the couple out to India on the next available flight. But that would be at their own expense, and add a few more thousand to the €6,500 already paid.
Now Paul and Aileen are experiencing problems claiming on their travel insurance because the underwriters have requested a report from Emirates and the airline says the couple are on the system as being ‘no shows’ – despite having been excessively early for the flight.
Paul said they may be able to contest that narrative, but it could require applying under data protection for CCTV footage showing that they were there, but were refused permission to board.
Paul said they are frustrated, disappointed and angry but they are mindful, too, that ‘no one has died’ and that a bit of perspective is always a good thing in life.
A spokesperson for Emirates issued a statement to The Southern Star saying: ‘Emirates wants all of its customers to have the best experience possible when travelling but, unfortunately, passengers with damaged passports that are not machine readable are not permitted to travel.’
