The Olympics are only half a year away and gymnasts don’t get much time off during the pre-Olympic year. Daria Spiridonova got a week off between camps to go to Bali with her husband, Nikita Nagornyy, and fellow gymnasts Lilia Akhaimova and Maria Kharenkova. However, she was not allowed to board the plane. Nagornyy wrote in a post on his Instagram that an airline employee refused to let Spridonova on board because she didn’t have blank pages in her passport. Some countries, including Indonesia, indeed have an official requirement for the tourists to have a full blank page in their passport to put an entry stamp even when the stamp size is less than half a page. However, according to Nagornyy, the requirement is not followed through at the Indonesian border. Spiridonova had to buy another ticket and fly via Singapore instead of a direct flight in order not to miss her vacation. Nagornyy wrote:
“We never have everything go smoothly. Yesterday, we were taken off the direct flight to Bali because Dasha did not have a full blank page in her passport for a stamp. But they checked us in and let us through the border without saying anything, only the dude that tears the stubs off the boarding passes before the entrance to the plane. Only Dasha and two other guys were not allowed to board, but this dude told us that before our flight, he didn’t let seven people to board, hinting that it’s a normal procedure. What would happen if he let us through?! According to him, a fine of 5000 euros but, in fact, it would be $5-6, and just dollars, not thousands. Dasha and the guys just had the misfortune to deal with this dude, while people who also didn’t have a full blank page flew to Bali and were allowed into the country without any problems. So, the most interesting part – we bought tickets to the next flight from another airport (Domodedovo), flew via Singapore, and no one checked all our passport pages even once. And when we asked them why they didn’t. they asked what for. We told them about the situation and they said it was the first time they heard it. So, the employees that work at Bali’s border don’t know about those rules. Also, our return tickets were annulled. @Rossiya_Airlines great job!!! But we’re in Bali and our vacation is starting.”
Nagornyy said that besides the lost time and money, the situation was especially upsetting since they risked not getting to their only vacation during the pre-Olympic year:
“I tried to explain to them that we are athletes and can only allow ourselves one week of vacation once a year.”
