Man Banned From Airline For 10 Years Because Of His 'Name', Here's What Happened

A 21-year-old man from the UK has claimed that he was mistakenly banned from flying with easyJet because of his name and date of birth, according to a report by Express.co.uk. The man identified as Kieran Harris, from Cheshire, made the shocking discovery when he was all set for a vacation to Spain with his friends. However, the day before his flight was due to take off, he received an email informing him he was unable to board the flight due to ''previous disruptive behaviour''.

He was also told he had been issued a ''10-year no-fly sanction'' with the airline, which only expired in March 2031. 

Mr. Harris claims that the airline had confused him with a man who was sentenced to 12 weeks in prison for behaving aggressively and abusively whilst drunk on an easyJet flight in 2021. To top it all, he also shares his birthday with the abusive flyer.

He said, "My friend got an email at 6 pm the night before the flight, saying they had this ten-year flight ban and I was just removed from the booking. I was gutted. I couldn't quite get my head around it. I wasn't on the booking anymore, I didn't have a seat on the flight, and there was no point in me even going to the airport.''

Thankfully, the issue was resolved after EasyJet requested a picture of his passport to confirm his identity, and eventually lifted the accidental ban, leaving him with just hours to get to his flight.

He claimed, "This has made me less likely to want to fly with easyJet in the future. I definitely don't want to fly with easyJet again."

An easyJet spokesperson apologised for the mix-up and told The Independent: “We are very sorry that Mr. Harris was incorrectly advised he couldn't fly with us. We made this decision in good faith as Mr. Harris shared the same name and date of birth and was flying from the same UK region as a passenger we'd previously banned for a serious offence onboard.

''As soon as Mr Harris contacted us we resolved the matter and while he flew as originally planned we understand the frustration this will have caused so our team are in touch with him and will offer a gesture of goodwill in light of his experience''.

However, he is so frustrated with the entire experience, that he is even thinking of getting a name change if this continues to happen.

This isn't the first time Mr. Harris has been mistaken for the convicted criminal. Previously, the Metropolitan Police stormed his house in bulletproof vests after misidentifying him as the wrong Kieran Harris. The Metropolitan Police also apologised for the mistaken identity issue.