Quote: ‘We are very sorry. Mr Harris shared the same name and date of birth and was flying from the same UK region as a passenger we’d previously banned for a serious offence onboard’ – easyJet spokesperson
A mix-up over the namesake of Kieran Harris lead to him being struck of the list from flying to Alicante-Elche airport!
easyJet removed his name, following a namesake having been charged for being a disruptive passenger on a previous flight with the airline.
The day before he was due to fly to Spain, he received an email telling him he couldn’t board the flight – due to ‘previous disruptive behaviour’.
He was also informed he had been issued a ’10 year no-fly sanction’ with the airline, which expires in March 2031.
“My friend got an email at 6pm the night before the flight, saying they had this ten-year flight ban and I was just removed off the booking,” he said.
“I was gutted. I couldn’t quite get my head around it. I wasn’t on the booking anymore, I didn’t have a seat on the flight, and there was no point in me even going to the airport,” said Kieran.
He said the problem, is due to easyJet confusing him with another man named Kieran Harris, who was sentenced to 12 weeks in prison for behaving aggressively and abusively whilst drunk on a flight in 2021. The namesakes also share a birthday.
Kieran said easyJet requested a picture of his passport to confirm his identity, and eventually lifted the accidental ban, leaving him stressed, with just hours to get to his flight.
Kieran said: “We’d booked the holiday and we even checked in online a week prior, so there had been so much time for them to contact us.
“I was gutted, because I’d booked a day off work for the flight, then I couldn’t work the day before, because I had to spend the whole day trying to ring easyJet to get this sorted.”
An easyJet spokesperson said: “We are very sorry that Mr Harris was incorrectly advised he couldn’t fly with us. We made this decision in good faith as Mr Harris shared the same name and date of birth and was flying from the same UK region as a passenger we’d previously banned for a serious offence onboard.
Goodwill
“As soon as Mr Harris contacted us we resolved the matter and while he flew as originally planned we understand the frustration this will have caused so our team are in touch with him and will offer a gesture of goodwill in light of his experience.”
