A British couple missed out on a five day holiday to China due to a confusion over a new visa law.
Ian and Jane Swann, from Devon, were travelling from New Zealand to China when the incident occurred.
After visiting their son in Christchurch, they decided to fly to Beijing to take advantage of a new visa regulation which allows travels 144 hours without a visa.
This means that for six days, travellers can travel between the two countries and be expect from a visa.
However, when attempting to fly with Qantas Airways, they were refused to board.
The check-in staff at the airport in Christchurch prevented the couple from being allowed on the flight.
Mr Swann told The Independent: “They say we do not have a visa and their information is we require an approved visa prior to boarding flight.”
They then asked if they could instead travel to Sydney, which they had the correct documentation for in the hopes of heading to the Qantas headquarters.
Yet when this was also refused, the couple were forced to book a new flight with Emirates, costing £1,164.
They also missed out on visiting China and meant they travelled back to the UK via Dubai.
A spokesperson for Qantas told The Independent: “We apologise for the inconvenience caused to the Swann family who were incorrectly denied travel from Christchurch to Beijing for allegedly not having the required visas.
“We’re working with our check-in team to ensure this mistake doesn’t happen again and have reached out to the customer to offer compensation.”
The couple has said that they have since been offered £137 in compensation.
Qantas Airways have been contacted by Express.co.uk.
The ban follows on from another couple who were prohibited from flying thanks to visa issues.
A couple who were flying with EasyJet were attempting to travel to Turkey.
Yet when boarding, their e-Visas which they had downloaded were not allowed and were told they had to print them off.
This goes against the rules given by the Foreign Office which states an electronic copy is allowed.
It states: “Print off and carry a paper copy of your e-Visa, or make sure you have an electronic copy on a smartphone or other device to show to the immigration officer.”
