In the busiest week of the year for British holidaymakers heading for South Africa, an average of 10 families a day are being denied boarding when they turn up at Heathrow. They fall foul of draconian new rules that demand a full birth certificate for each child.
Grant Hughes, an account manager from Suffolk, was booked to fly from Heathrow to Addis Ababa and onwards to Durban with Ethiopian Airlines. Mr Hughes, 45, was travelling with his fiancee and his two children, aged 11 and 15, for their wedding in the city on 16 December. But the airline, which had not told them birth certificates were obligatory, refused to let them board the plane.
Responsibility rests with passengers to ensure they have the necessary documents to enter a country. Airlines face fines from the South African authorities if they carry passengers under 18 who do not have a birth certificate and are therefore inadmissible.
No comments:
Post a Comment