A family of three’s dream trip to Disneyland Paris turned into a nightmare when lengthy queues at passport control and additional delays due to the new EU border biometric checks meant they missed their flight and were hit with a bill in excess of £1,000.
Brad Short, from Middlesbrough, said he, his wife and their six-year-old daughter had arrived at Charles de Gaulle airport in Paris three-and-a-half hours before their easyJet flight on 16 April and were among the first to check-in.
However, the 46-year-old primary school sports coach said they spent almost seven hours effectively stranded in the Paris airport before they were left with no choice but to foot the bill for another night in the French capital.
“We were there for a four nights’ stay. On the way out: no issues, no problems, fantastic time with the little’un. Obviously on the way back, that’s when the nightmare started,” Short told The i Paper.
Despite a “fairly quick” security clearance and heading to passport control “about a good hour earlier than we should have done”, Short said the queue did not move for around 45 minutes at first.
