Good morning,My daughter was meant to fly to Rome on Vueling airlines from Gatwick this morning, on a school trip to Italy. She is on a South African passport, however, I received email from the Italian Consulate that children on South African passports, travelling on a school trip DO NOT need a Schengen visa (copy of email for you to see below), only a valid passport and their BRP card is needed and the teacher must provide a letter on a letterhead stating nature of the trip and all pupils names on the list. This information is also clearly stated on their website. All this information was printed and handed in at check-in. My child was denied boarding, and the airport staff were rude and so harsh with her, especially one lady in particular and I'd like to find out her name please, if you can see who was working at check-in - the flight was from Gatwick to Rome at 9am this morning. My main concern is how utterly incompetent they were, even after calling supervisors in Heathrow?? The rules for children on school trips are very clear (and not the same as if I was travelling to Italy with my daughter, that is entirely a different story), yet they insisted she needed a Schengen visa which she does not. They denied boarding. I had to drive to fetch my child who was left sobbing while all other children went on the school trip. The airline staff then said some nonsense about her not actually needing a visa, but that her BRP card was expired. ALL BRP cards in the UK were discontinued from December 2024. The physical card is still valid till end of March, we are now on e-Visas which are all online, linked to our passports. My daughter had both the BRP card plus a print out of her e-visa (which is replacing BRP cards) , and gave this to staff who INSISTED her card is expired and she cannot travel. So firstly, they were claiming she needs a Schengen visa for a school trip to Italy (incorrect), then next thing they suddenly said she doesn't need a visa, but her BRP expired so she cannot fly??? How can your staff at check-in not be aware of the change from BRP cards to e-visas, and that the BRP cards are STILL VALID until end of March. Regardless, my daughter had both with her in case, but still was denied boarding. Surely ANYONE working at Gatwick needs to be well-informed, properly trained and most importantly, show some decency and compassion. The lady refused to speak to me on the phone so I could explain re not needing a visa for Italy if a child is on a school trip (and on a South African passport) as per the Italian Embassy's confirmation in writing to me . They basically would not listen, simply said to her "you cannot go". How can your staff treat a young teenage girl like this? She was left standing by herself sobbing while all other children on the school trip walked through. Absolutely disgusting and disgraceful service with zero compassion. I had to drive to fetch my poor child who was hysterical. And this is ENTIRELY Vueling's fault, she would have definitely gotten entry into Italy without an issue, numerous South African school children on school trips have done this, the information was printed in black and white and is from the Italian Consulate. The airport staff also had no clue about the recent change in UK Immigration from a BRP card to e-visas, they also claimed her card was expired, which is false, the physical cards are in fact valid until March, but her e-Visa is valid and linked to her passport - it's all online, this was implemented by government in December!! How can staff working at Gatwick not know the rules and the change from a BRP card to an e-visa? I want this looked into please and responded to, not only have I lost £800 for this school trip, but my daughter had to go through all this distress for NO REASON other than badly trained, incompetent and rude staff. She should have been on that flight to Italy, you have robbed her of an amazing once-in-a-lifetime experience that she was looking forward to for months - all because your ground staff did not have the decency to even speak to me on the phone, or actually properly read the email printed from the Italian Consulate, or go onto the Italian embassy website where they would have clearly seen that school children on South African passports are EXEMPT and do not need a Schengen visa when travelling with a school.
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Vueling Airlines, SA is a Spanish low-cost airline based at El Prat de Llobregat in Greater Barcelona with hubs at Barcelona–El Prat Airport and Leonardo da Vinci–Fiumicino Airport in Rome, Italy.