Couple have to hire £15k private jet after baby born abroad
A COUPLE were forced to spend £15,000 on a private jet home after they got stuck in Spain when their baby was born 10 weeks early.
Lucy Housley, 25, and Connor Benyon, 29, were on a cruise when Lucy went into labour and had an emergency c-section.
Their 10-week premature daughter Lilli was in critical intensive care for two weeks followed by another four in the neonatal intensive care unit. But when she was finally well enough to fly home, they claim HM Passport Office would not confirm Lilli’s nationality to the British Consulate - so they could release an emergency passport.
Instead, the pair had to enlist the help of a private jet company based in Cardiff – who brokered a deal between the British and Spanish border force officers to let her travel on a birth certificate.
The family finally made it home – with little Lilli travelling in style in the private jet.
Lucy, a technical administrator, from Bridgend, said: “Trying to make any headway with the passport office was just impossible – our mental health just plummeted.
“They didn’t understand the severity of the situation.
“It felt surreal because we had so many let-downs we didn’t quite believe it to be true until we were on the plane and it had taken off.
“After being basically trapped in a foreign country for six weeks, landing in Cardiff was amazing – it was such a relief.”
Managing director Connor and Lucy went on a cruise with their families in April 2023 after Lucy was given a fit-to-fly letter by her doctor after entering her third trimester.
However, five days into the cruise she went into labour while they were docking in Palamos, near Girona, on April 10, 2023.
Lucy underwent an emergency c-section – spending two and a half hours in theatre – and Lilli was born at just 2lb and 8oz on April 11.
After four days, Lucy was released from hospital and joined Connor in a nearby hotel where they lived out of a suitcase for six weeks.
In the meantime, they contacted the British Consulate and HM Passport Office to get Lilli documents to fly – but found they were unable to get her nationality confirmed, they claim.
Lucy says the pair spent hours on the phone every day for nearly four weeks trying to resolve the issue, but were left going round in circles.
Eventually they decided to contact a private jet company based in Cardiff to find out if they could help get the family home.
They say the company helped organise an emergency meeting between British and Spanish border force officers – and gave them special permission to travel using just Lilli’s birth certificate.
Their families helped them with the cost of the flight, and on May 24 they finally left Girona and touched down on the runway at Cardiff airport, where Lucy’s family were able to meet them on the runway.
“When we were discharged from the hospital the nurses lined up in the corridor and clapped us out,” she said. “It was bittersweet really.
“We ran into a lot of issues with the passport office. They played everything by the book and were very rigid.
“All we needed was for them to confirm Lilli’s nationality – then the embassy could provide an emergency travel document so she could fly home.
“We both had to keep each other afloat, one day I’d be in the depths and it would be him the next day, we just had to keep each other sane.
“When we flew she was minus four weeks old so we couldn’t have flown commercially anyway.”
A Home Office spokesperson said: “When applying for a passport or Emergency Travel Document, all supporting documents that are requested should be submitted promptly to enable the application to be progressed as quickly as possible.
“It is long-standing government policy that we do not routinely comment on individual cases.”