BA banned Ukrainian family from entering the UK despite them having correct documents

The household of three had travelled 800 miles to Warsaw airport in Poland, the place they have been as a consequence of fly to London below the UK authorities’s Houses for Ukraine scheme

British Airways has issued an apology after it banned a Ukranian household from boarding a flight regardless of the passengers all having the right paperwork.

The household of three, which included an eight-year-old lady, had fled their residence in Kharkiv, which has endured a number of the most intense assaults, after ready greater than two weeks to be granted UK visas.

They travelled 800 miles to Warsaw airport in Poland, the place they have been as a consequence of fly to London through the airline below the UK authorities’s Houses for Ukraine scheme.

Vira Rybalchenko, 68, misplaced her passport within the evacuation however was assured by the British embassy that she could be allowed to journey as a result of she had a paper copy of the doc in addition to a newly issued UK visa and a Ukrainian id card.

However minutes earlier than they have been as a consequence of board their flight Rybalchenko was wrongly advised by BA employees that she couldn’t depart with out her unique passport.

BA admitted this was a mistake and issued an apology to the household after being contacted by the Guardian newspaper.

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It stated: “We’re very sorry for the real error made by our staff when attempting to comply with Dwelling Workplace steering and we have put measures in place to make sure this does not occur once more.

“We’re making contact with the household to apologise and will likely be offering a full refund of their tickets.”

Rybalchenko’s daughter, Hanna Zakhovaieva, stated: “This was a horrible expertise and my mum was completely shocked. I could not depart my mum in Poland as a result of she would not perceive the language and would not know anybody or have wherever to remain.”

Zakhovaieva, 37, stated her eight-year-old daughter, Sofiia, was “very traumatised” by the conflict.

The household had arrived on the airport at 6am for the 8.25am flight to London Heathrow. Zakhovaieva, an accountant, stated they have been left “with out clarification or apology” by BA employees.

They ultimately boarded an 8pm flight to London on LOT Polish Airways after an worker on the Hungarian airline Wizz Air created a brief journey doc.

Zakhovaieva stated she noticed one other household being turned away by BA employees.

The visa centre on the airport “have been shocked that BA did not permit us to board”, she stated.

“They stated it is a huge challenge that quite a lot of households will face.”

British Airways declined to say what number of different Ukrainian passengers had been wrongly turned away.

Zakhovaieva, her daughter and mom at the moment are dwelling with their host household in Surrey.