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Ryanair accused of preventing 89-year-old man from returning to Spain in national ID card row
Air travel

Ryanair accused of preventing 89-year-old man from returning to Spain in national ID card row

The Irish budget airline has countered that the identity document presented by the elderly gentleman is not valid in the Schengen area

David Maroto

Valencia

Friday, 9 May 2025, 16:39

Luis Carbó, an 89-year-old man trying to fly home to Spain from the Netherlands with his wife and daughter was denied boarding by Ryanair who considered his identity document to be invalid.

The reason given by the Irish budget airline was that the permanent national identity card issued by the Spanish State was not suitable for flights between Schengen states.

According to the family, the Ryanair employee responsible for checking the documents was the one who informed them that the 89-year-old could not board because of his ID card. They allowed his relatives to board the plane but told Luis he couldn't.

Luis says that the Ryanair workers expressed themselves with "arrogance" and that they forced them to leave the queue "by pushing them aside". In fact, he said that his wife, Elvira, "was very nervous" and that she suffers from heart problems.

The permanent DNI identification is issued in Spain from the age of 70 and, although it is legally valid within Spain, its printed expiry date (01-01-9999) may raise doubts when travelling. According to the regulations, any valid Spanish ID card, including the permanent one, is valid for travel within the European Union.

Ryanair defends its performance

Ryanair maintains its position, in response to questions about the incident, and pointed out that this permanent ID card "is not valid documentation" and merely functions as a sort of "residence permit". "The passenger was correctly turned away from his flight", the company stated in a reply to the Mediterráneo newspaper.

The family explained that they had to spend more than 1,500 euros to spend an extra night in Eindhoven and on new tickets to return home. In this process, they claim that they tried to file a complaint to the company, which was denied, so they have announced that they will report the case to Spain's state aviation safety agency.

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surinenglish Ryanair accused of preventing 89-year-old man from returning to Spain in national ID card row