A man was banned from easyJet flights for a decade because of a mix-up involving his name, and the police once raided his home over the same mistake.
21-year-old Kieran Harris was unaware of the travel ban placed on his name until it came time to book a holiday to Alicante in Spain.
When the graduate realized he was banned from flying with the airline, he believed there had been a case of mistaken identity and mixed up with a criminal who shared his name and date of birth.
It wasn’t until the eve of his trip from Liverpool that he received notice of his ban, despite booking a month in advance.
He was informed that due to ‘past disruptive behaviour’, he is on a flight ban until March 15 2031.
The man who shares his name was sentenced to 12 weeks in prison in 2021 for behaving in an abusive manner while drunk on an easyJet flight.
Speaking of the mix-up, the innocent Kieran Harris, who is training to be an auditor, said: “I’m sad. I can’t even imagine.
“I’m out of the booking, I don’t have a seat on the flight and it’s useless even if I go to the airport.
“We’ve had this previously, this person who obviously has the same name and date of birth as me.
“The police came to my family’s house last summer to question me. It was serious, but within five or ten minutes they knew it wasn’t me.
“News articles are published with this person’s picture and you can see it’s not me.
“They’re accusing me of doing something, whereas if they saw me in person they would be able to see that it’s not me, it’s just a bit frustrating.
“I’m thinking of changing the name if this continues.”
easyJet lifted the ban after seeing a photo of his passport, but Harris insists the situation was very stressful.
Harris said: “It’s made it more likely that I won’t want to fly with easyJet in the future. I really don’t want to fly with easyJet again.”
An easyJet spokesman said: “We deeply regret that Mr Harris was incorrectly advised that he would not be traveling with us.
“We made this decision in good faith as Mr Harris shares the same name and date of birth and flies from the same region of the UK as a passenger we previously banned for a serious offense on board.
“As soon as Mr Harris contacted us, we resolved the matter and while he has flown as originally planned, we understand the frustration this will cause so our team is in contact with him and will offer a act of goodwill according to his experience.”
Speaking about the mix-up, a spokesperson for the Metropolitan Police said: “This complaint relates to police attending an address for one Kieran Harris and it appears to be a case of mistaken identity, for which we have sent a request of forgiveness in writing.”
