For ten years: Brit gets a flight ban from Easyjet – because of his name

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Kieran Harris (21) was looking forward to his holiday in Alicante, Spain. On May 24, on the eve of his trip, his friend received a message from the airline Easyjet. The content: Harris is not allowed to fly. A shock for the young Briton. “Suddenly I had no place to sit. My booking just got deleted,” Harris told British newspaper “The Mirror”.

The unbelievable reason: The 21-year-old shares both his name and date of birth with a notorious ex-passenger who ended up on the airline’s sanctions list.

The airline has banned the young man from flying for 10 years due to “previously disruptive behaviour”, the passenger was told in an email. The flight ban applies until March 15, 2031. If he books more flights, the ban can even be extended.

Namesake was even in prison

“I was devastated when I got the news,” said Harris. However, there was soon clarity: the airline confused him with a passenger who in 2021 behaved aggressively towards other people and insulted them.

These incidents landed Harris’s namesake in jail for 12 weeks. It’s not the first time Harris has been mistaken for the convicted felon. As early as 2022, the British police stormed his house in full swing. Even then they were looking for the wrong person.

Easyjet apologizes

It’s frustrating when that happens more often, Harris said after the flight debacle. Sometimes he even considers changing his name to avoid future confusion.

Finally there is clarity about the situation regarding the Easyjet flight. By showing his passport, Harris was able to confirm his identity. The ban was lifted and the young man could still fly to Alicante.

An Easyjet spokesperson told The Mirror: “We are deeply sorry that Mr Harris has been wrongly told he cannot fly with us”. Once the young man contacted the airline they could have sorted it out. (A)

Source: Blick