Ryanair's strict ID policy for collecting tickets at airports suffered a blow yesterday after a judge found there was a conflict in the terms and conditions documents issued as part of its Internet booking service.
Judge David Anderson found against the airline in a case taken by a man whose cousin he had booked a flight for was not allowed to pick up the ticket because his passport was out of date.
The Dublin Small Claims Court heard that while the Ryanair website states passengers must have a "valid passport", a standard confirmatory notice sent to the customer only stated "passport".
Dublin man Mr Peter Noone told the court he bought a ticket on the Internet last year for his young cousin to fly from Leeds-Bradford to Dublin for a four week stay in Ireland.
He was aware Ryanair required passengers to produce a passport, national identity card, driver's licence or student card in order to travel.
The young man did not have a driving licence or other card and his passport had expired in June of 2001.
Mr Noone forwarded the confirmatory notice to the young man's grandmother who went to the Leeds airport to see him off. But Ryanair refused to let him board and the grandmother had to pay for another flight with Aer Lingus, who did not require any passport. Ryanair also did not refund the fare to Mr Noone.
Mr Peter Lennon, solicitor for Ryanair, said under contract law and under any logical understanding of passports, it was necessary that they be valid.
"An expired passport means nothing and any organisation is entitled to say it is not a passport unless it is valid," Mr Lennon said.
He added that since the Twin Towers tragedy, it was essential that all airlines be satisfied as to the identity of each passenger.
Judge Anderson said there was a conflict between the two documents, both generated by Ryanair, and therefore a confusion caused by the company whereby an expired passport could be regarded as a perfectly valid form of ID for the purpose of collecting flight tickets.
He awarded Mr Noone a full refund for the return flight of €155.