READ MORE: Are Brits only willing to fly closer to home now? As Jet2 and other airlines launch more flights to Jersey to meet demandSee more Daily Mail on Google - save us as a Preferred SourceBy ERIN DEBORAH WAKS, TRAVEL WRITER Published: 09:50 BST, 30 June 2026 | Updated: 09:51 BST, 30 June 2026
A Jersey family said their holiday was ruined because the airline they were travelling with did not recognise their passports.Iwona Izbinska-Sosnowska, her husband Andrzej and daughter Ava, 19, planned to fly with China Eastern Airlines to Vietnam from London Gatwick.They had arranged a three-week trip to Hanoi and Hạ Long Bay - a celebration of Iwona surviving cancer.She told ITV: 'We have dreamed about this opportunity for 15 years because of the history, the culture, and we have never been to Asia, so adding China as a transit country was something special to us as well.' Iwona and Ava were denied boarding by the airline - as check-in staff did not accept their British passports, issued by the Bailiwick of Jersey.Her husband, who has a Polish passport, was unaffected.She said: 'They asked us to wait aside because on their system, there was a note that there's no country like that.'We tried to explain we are from Jersey in the Channel Islands, a Crown Dependency, and we are British citizens. Other British citizens were allowed to board the plane without any visas or problems.' Iwona Izbinska-Sosnowska said she was left £5,000 out of pocket after China Eastern Airlines didn't recognise her passportIwona told ITV News that staff tried to help for two hours - but to no avail.None of the family ended up travelling.Iwona told the publication: 'I feel I've been betrayed, I don't know by whom, by the airline, the system, it was so unfair.'Jersey has the same benefits and consular rights as British Citizens from London and the UK.'We have been checking for six months, we had valid travel documents and quite new passports, so everything was really well prepared. I don't know what else we could have done.'The trio was also denied compensation from their travel insurance provider. She was told she would need to sue the airline to get her money back.A spokesperson for Jersey's External Relations Ministry told ITV News they are 'aware of this unusual case and are working as a matter of urgency to ensure it is not repeated'. They added: 'We have received confirmation from the Chinese authorities that British citizens holding Jersey-issued passports are eligible for visa-free travel to China under the same conditions as those holding UK-issued passports.' A passport issued by the Balliwick of Jersey should still be accepted as a British passportIt's not the first time Jersey residents have been affected by border confusion.Earlier this year, Jersey asked the UK Home Office for support after residents were barred from boarding flights to the island - despite being permitted to do so. The home affairs minister in Jersey's letter to authorities explained that lawful residents were wrongly denied boarding as a result of new border requirements being misinterpreted.It comes after the implementation of the new digital Electronic Travel Authorisation (ETA) system, which has been confused with Jersey's physical immigration documents.You don't need an ETA if you travel between Jersey, the UK, Guernsey, Isle of Man and Ireland, are British or Irish, or have another exemption as outlined by the GOV.JE website.The Daily Mail has contacted China Eastern Airlines and the UK Foreign Office for comment.
