The practice of selling more tickets than available seats is commonplace across the airline industry

A couple's honeymoon got off to a disastrous start when easyJet overbooked their flight from Gatwick to the Montenegrin coast, forcing the newlyweds apart for nearly a full day.

Andy and Katya Wedlake had planned their trip to Tivat months ahead, with their departure scheduled for 8.25am on Sunday, July 26.

When they attempted to check in online during the early hours before their flight, the system would not let them proceed.

The reason only became clear upon arriving at the North Terminal's easyJet area.

Mr Wedlake said: "They had overbooked the flight. They could only give us seats once boarding had closed and if other people didn't turn up to the flight."

The practice of selling more tickets than available seats is commonplace across the airline industry.

EasyJet's own policy is to refuse boarding to whichever passengers checked in last.

Under air passenger rights regulations, airlines that oversell flights must first ask for volunteers willing to take a later departure in exchange for financial compensation.

At the gate, staff appealed for someone prepared to catch the following morning's service.

The Wedlakes assumed they would simply be rebooked together on the next day's flight.

Instead, ground crew told them one of them had to board or the couple would be treated as no-shows, forfeiting any right to rebooking or compensation.

Mr Wedlake said: "So my wife got on the flight and I stayed behind."

He headed back to the couple's London home whilst Katya flew on alone to the Adriatic resort.

An easyJet spokesman said: "We are very sorry for Mr and Mrs Wedlake’s experience and the difficulty this caused for their honeymoon."

They added: "Like most airlines, we sometimes overbook a very small proportion of flights and in the significant majority of cases do not result in denying boarding as we use data to select flights with a history of customers not travelling. By filling these seats, it helps to keep fares lower for everyone.

"In the rare event a customer can’t travel, we take our responsibilities seriously and seek volunteers to travel on a later flight in exchange for compensation. Where this is not possible, a decision is made based on order of check-in.

"Whilst a seat was available for one passenger, we are sorry that an exception was not made on this occasion to book an alternative flight for them together, especially as it was such a special trip.

"We have since reached out to Mr and Mrs Wedlake to apologise for their experience, provide the compensation due and offer a gesture of goodwill."

Under air passenger rights rules, Mr Wedlake is entitled to £350 for being denied boarding.

He told the Telegraph: "For me that doesn't cover the stress, the sadness of being apart from my new wife, the loss of one full day in Tivat, or the wasted time."

Mr Wedlake also questioned why the airline applies overbooking to routes it serves only once a day, arguing that a Sunday morning departure in the peak summer season should obviously attract a full complement of passengers.

He said: "I understand easyJet's terms and conditions allow them to do this kind of thing, but I'm shocked they do it to destinations where they only put on one flight per day and that they would not be able to predict this flight on a Sunday morning in summer would have a high attendance rate."