John’s stepson Scott Palmer-Read said: “It was the Bournemouth airport staff who initially flagged John’s passport, they are just doing their job. “Photographs of the passport were then uploaded for remote assessment from Ryanair, who just flat out refused travel. John's passport in the condition it was refused by Ryanair (Image: Scott Palmer-Read)Ryanair (Image: Getty Images)“We were then told that, because the airline says no, John could not travel - that was it. “My message to people would be to check your passport before you travel.” A spokesperson for Ryanair said: “This passenger was correctly refused travel on this flight from Bournemouth to Barcelona Girona (27 July) by the gate agent at Bournemouth Airport as his travel document was damaged (tear in the biodata page of the passport) and therefore not valid for travel.”