Tui passenger left devastated after being blocked from boarding flight for dream family holiday to Lapland

A mother collapsed in tears at Manchester Airport after being denied boarding for a £7,000 dream family holiday to Lapland due to a torn passport.

Claire Page, 37, was forced to watch her husband and two children depart for Finland without her after Tui staff discovered a rip in her passport’s photo page.

The beautician from Farnworth had saved for years to book the festive three-night stay, which was meant to be a magical Christmas experience for her family.

The Tui package holiday, booked a year in advance, included a stay at the Snowflake Hotel with reindeer sleigh rides, snowmobile adventures with huskies, and a visit to Santa.

“It was quite simply my dream trip. It’s one you always think about and want to do with your kids in your lifetime,” said Claire. “I had been saving for it since Ashton was a baby.”

The surprise holiday was revealed to her husband Justin, 39, and sons Ashton, 11, and Grayson, seven, just days before departure, leaving them “amazed.”

The family’s excitement turned to despair in the early hours of Sunday, December 1, as they attempted to check in for their 6am flight to Ivalo.

Surrounded by staff dressed as elves, Claire was informed that her passport had an invalid tear near the spine of the photo page.

“By this point I was crying, my kids were crying,” Claire told the Manchester Evening News.

“I fell to the floor. Two other ladies from Tui came over and picked me up and took me to the side.”

Despite having travelled six or seven times with the same passport previously, Claire was told she couldn’t board the flight.

In a desperate attempt to salvage her trip, Claire rushed to Liverpool’s passport office with her mother, only to find the streets blocked by a Santa dash.

Despite running across the city, they discovered the office was closed, and a subsequent appointment revealed a new passport would take a week to process.

“I will never get this opportunity again, because my oldest goes to high school next year so it will likely be his last year of believing,” Claire said.

While her family enjoyed the activities, they were often upset about her absence.

A Tui spokesperson said they were “very sorry” that Claire was unable to travel with her family.

“Government regulations do not allow passengers to travel with damaged passports, and after our teams spoke with the relevant authorities her passport was unfortunately denied,” the company stated.

Tui confirmed their staff had tried their best to allow Claire to travel, including consulting Finnish immigration authorities.

The company said their representative stayed with Claire until she was collected from the airport.