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I request some clarification if this applies as 'incorrectly denied boarding' by Turkish Airlines despite having a valid Schengen visa

The intended travel:

I was supposed to travel from Mumbai-> Istanbul-> Hannover. I had a Swedish Short Term Schengen Tourist Visa (under 90 days), and was planning to visit Germany first, then Sweden. Turkish Airlines denied me boarding at Istanbul to go to Hannover on the grounds that I should land in Sweden first because I had a Swedish Schengen visa. I argued my case with them, but in vain. They not only refused to let me board, but also rudely told me to go buy another ticket.

The actual journey:

Finally, I ended up going on a VERY exhausting journey from Mumbai -> Istanbul -> Stockholm -> Frankfurt -> (By train to) Hannover. When I landed at Stockholm, Swedish immigration was actually outraged at Turkish Airlines about denial to board. In fact, I was questioned by 3 border security officials, because my file clearly stated that I was first expected in Hannover, so they were surprised to see me at Stockholm. When they finally understood what had happened, they were furious at Turkish Airlines, and repeatedly stated that Turkish had no right to deny boarding. Schengen zones allow you to travel with this flexibility.

I was really upset at the treatment I received in Istanbul by Turkish Airlines. I have flown to Europe plenty of times and this is the first time I've encountered something like this. Nowhere is it written on Turkish Airlines websites that they have a policy of NOT boarding folks who are not traveling to the first port of entry in Schengen zones. They're (obviously) refusing any sort of compensation, but I still can't get this out of my head.

Is there anyone who already HAS explored legal options against Turkish Airlines, and what was the outcome? Does the jurisdiction of where you were denied boarding matter, or does this is simply airline-specific?

FreeMan
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Asira Lele
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    I can't answer right now, but you will want to explore EU261 and the Turkish equivalent – Nicolas Formichella Aug 10 '23 at 17:27
  • I don't know if you can take any action. If the airline believes you won't be admitted they can deny your boarding, and they believed you won't get admitted. – littleadv Aug 10 '23 at 18:04
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    @littleadv the airline has a contract with the passenger. The contract and various laws specify the circumstances under which a passenger may be denied boarding. Believing that the passenger won't be admitted is not among them (although it is a frequent misconception that it is). A valid reason for denying boarding is the passenger's failure to have adequate documents. If the airline incorrectly determines that a passenger with correct documents has incorrect documents because it has trained its staff poorly then the airline has breached the contract of carriage. – phoog Aug 10 '23 at 18:16
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    Do you have a video recording of the refusal to board or some official confirmation? – JonathanReez Aug 10 '23 at 19:20
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    @littleadv It won't be without recourse though. I have a LOT of experience with this; in fact in my cases the airlines (easyJet and Jet2) know the rules but most of their handling subcontractors don't – Crazydre Aug 10 '23 at 23:12
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    @NicolasFormichella EU261 doesn't apply, only the Turkish regulation, which I've successfully claimed under for a denied boarding (admittedly Pegasus owned up immediately) – Crazydre Aug 11 '23 at 00:05
  • Can you confirm if Istanbul was a transit location or you had a stopover in Istanbul? If it was transit then did Turkish airlines boarding counter at Mumbai raised any issues? – Travelling Juggernaut Aug 11 '23 at 02:57
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    @TravellingJuggernaut It was a transit location, and Mumbai had zero issues because the passenger HAD the correct visa – Crazydre Aug 11 '23 at 11:25
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    Pretty annoying when the airlines consistently say "it's your responsibility to know the visa and admission rules of the country you're visiting", so you carefully and meticulously research and follow them but then the airline impose their incorrect understanding anyway. – Flexo Aug 12 '23 at 17:33
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    The 'Mumbai -> Istanbul -> Stockholm -> Frankfurt' route was with Turkish Airlines? Did you have to pay anything extra, or was this just waste of time/patience? – Quora Feans Aug 13 '23 at 16:22
  • @Flexo You're so right. So I'm worried about the exact same thing (https://travel.stackexchange.com/questions/182899/when-schengen-visa-issuing-country-is-different-from-first-entry-schengen-countr) and so I contacted my airline in advance. And guess what, they repeated the same lines like a broken record as you have mentioned. – ABGR Aug 14 '23 at 19:55
  • Did you have a single or multiple entry short time visa? Not that it matters, but have heard sometimes they (incorrectly) assume things even on the basis of it. – ABGR Aug 15 '23 at 04:40
  • @phoog it seems imprudent to suggest that airlines do not have any obligations towards any country to not board certain passengers who lack documents. Covid might have been the exception, but you certainly would never be allowed boarding without a quarantine hotel booking in certain countries. – fregante Aug 19 '23 at 13:59
  • @Flexo Oh boy do I have LOTS of experience with this, specifically for UK flights! – Crazydre Sep 02 '23 at 10:30
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    @fregante perhaps you misunderstood my comment. Airlines are absolutely obliged not to board passengers who lack proper documents. They are also obliged to board passengers who have proper documents (as this passenger did). They don't get to decide on their own whether a certain document is valid. In this case, not only was the passenger's visa valid but the law actually prohibits the passenger from obtaining the visa that the airline claims the passenger should have. By pursuing this policy Turkish airlines effectively excludes an entire segment of Schengen-bound travelers from its services. – phoog Sep 23 '23 at 23:14
  • @phoog In this specific case, TK is ludicrously at fault as everyone knows a Schengen visa is valid across Europe. But generally speaking, if airlines can deny boarding for improper documents, it means they also have the authority to determine what a proper document is. That's the pickle they're in. – fregante Sep 24 '23 at 04:19
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    @fregante the way this works in the US is that airlines can't be fined if someone shows an apparently valid visa even if the visa is actually not valid because it was obtained by fraud or the traveler is traveling for a different purpose. That is between the traveler and the government. If Turkish was in fact fined because of travelers flying to Germany and claiming they were going to France while they had visas issued by Spain (article linked from flyertalk thread), then Germany is somewhat at fault here for putting this burden on airlines. But I don't see that they were actually fined. – phoog Sep 24 '23 at 13:20

1 Answers1

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Email bpolifh.haj@polizei.bund.de (source) with a copy of your visa and ask - as if you didn't know - whether you would've been allowed to enter Schengen at Hannover, given that Turkish Airlines denied you boarding?

Then claim EUR 400 in compensation AND the extra costs (new ticket, meals) from Turkish airlines, attaching a copy of your visa AND the email from Hannover immigration as proof. If they refuse, check how and where you can take them to court under the Turkish regulation on air passenger rights.

Crazydre
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    Is the 600 euro based on Regulation (EC) No 261/2004? Because that doesn't apply as the flight isn't from the EU nor by an airline based in the EU. Or am I missing something? – David Mulder Aug 11 '23 at 06:46
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    @DavidMulder Turkey has copied the 261/2004 regulation https://web.shgm.gov.tr/doc4/shy-passenger.pdf – Crazydre Aug 11 '23 at 11:26
  • Thank you! Despite literally having flown out of Turkey yesterday I just assumed that there was no way that given the inflation the number could be so close to value in the EU rules... not at all considering that they might have just kept the number in euros – David Mulder Aug 11 '23 at 13:43
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    I think this is the first and only time I have ever seen a "refused international boarding" question on this site where the airline was blatantly wrong. – Glenn Willen Aug 11 '23 at 22:58
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    @GlennWillen I've had it happen to me 10 times as well, always for the same destination and always over the same detail of regulations (that most handling agents in Europe misinterpret) – Crazydre Aug 11 '23 at 23:35
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    Can you provide a source for the German email address? I assume you copied it somewhere from the German immigration service website but provided that website would be useful. – quarague Aug 12 '23 at 10:38
  • @quarague https://www.bundespolizei.de/SharedDocs/Webs/Web/Organisationseinheiten/BPOLI/Flughafen_Hannover.html?nn=6134908 – Crazydre Aug 12 '23 at 11:22
  • Let us continue this discussion in chat. – Crazydre Aug 15 '23 at 18:33
  • Dear all - Thank you so much for your responses! I'm going through all of them right now, and they're really helpful! And I must say that Stack Exchange's Travel section is excellent. When I posted the same thing on FlyerTalk, people simply mocked me for even asking something like this.

    Also - Someone had asked me about the visa type and the transit. So, mine was a Single-Entry Swedish Schengen visa (Short stay, under 90 days). And, Istanbul was not a stopover, it was a transit (layover of 4-ish hours) with a change of planes. Also, they made me buy a new ticket with Turkish airlines.

     – Asira Lele Aug 17 '23 at 19:26
  • @AsiraLele Can you link the Flyertalk thread? – Crazydre Aug 17 '23 at 19:46
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    @Crazydre found it here. See from the page #4 onwards https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/turkish-airlines-miles-smiles/2040837-denied-boarding-schengen-visa-issue-6.html it’s astonishing – ABGR Aug 20 '23 at 20:11
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    ^ it’s astonishing and unbelievable how cocky and misinformed some of the users there are - bashing OP when they themselves don’t have any clue about the law. They keep repeating that the Turkish airlines is right in this treatment and that the first port of entry has to be the one issuing the visa. Lol how can so many together be so obtuse? Is that deliberate? – ABGR Aug 20 '23 at 20:15