Grandmother stranded at Stansted Airport after Ryanair refuses bus pass as ID
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An 85-year-old woman was left stranded and in floods of tears at Stansted Airport after Ryanair refused to accept her bus pass as ID for a return flight to Edinburgh.
Helen Trotter, from Hawick, Roxburghshire, had used the permit to prove who she was on the outbound flight, however Swissport staff at Stansted - acting as third party agents for Ryanair - advised her that this form of ID was not acceptable for the return journey.
Her family are now facing a 12-hour round trip to pick up the grandmother, after she was too upset to re-enter the airport.
Eighty-five-year-old Helen Trotter had used her bus pass as ID to leave Edinburgh Airport for Stansted
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Daughter Irene, 53, told the Edinburgh Evening News that her mother was visibly shaken by the whole affair.
'We got a call from a member of staff at Stansted saying that she was bawling her eyes out,' she said.
Ryanair's General Terms and Conditions of Carriage do not include a bus pass as being an acceptable form of ID.
It lists a passport, national ID card or any valid driving licence with photo as acceptable identification for adults, while children under 16 years of age (travelling with an adult) on UK domestic flights can travel without photo identification.
However, the pensioner had been allowed to use the photocard on the flight down to Stansted from Edinburgh.
Visibly upset by being denied entry, Ms Trotter couldn't bring herself to return to the airport
On the return journey to Edinburgh from Stansted, the grandmother was told her bus pass ID wasn't valid
A Ryanair spokesman told MailOnline Travel: 'Customers flying domestically within the UK should travel with a passport or driving licence. In rare cases, where customers have no other form of ID, travel may be permitted with a bus pass.
'We have asked our third party handling agent at Stansted (Swissport) to explain why this issue was not escalated and ensure it does not recur.
'We sincerely apologise to Mrs Trotter and transferred her free of charge onto the next available flight that day, however she chose not to travel.
'As a gesture of goodwill, we are offering Mrs Trotter a free return flight from Edinburgh to Stansted and hope she will fly with us once more.'
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