A woman with a severe nut allergy bought every pack of peanuts on a Eurowings flight after claiming flight attendants “ignored” her request not to serve them.
Leah Williams, 27, said she spent £144 buying 48 bags of nuts on board, costing her nearly three times the £50 ticket she paid to travel from London to Dusseldorf.
Williams asked flight attendants to warn other passengers of her allergies and ask them not to buy or eat nuts on board, she said. Mirrorbut the crew allegedly refused.
In response, a worker at a design firm in Hampshire said she asked them to buy all the bags of nuts they had and packed them.
“The flight attendants looked at me like I was crazy and said: “But there are a lot of them, we will have to count them all.” I told them: “Count, please, and I will pay them all, because they left me no other way out,” she says.
“Eurowings should be ashamed of how they handled the situation and how they made me feel.”
Williams is seeking a refund for the nuts he bought from the airline.
This was announced by the representative of Eurowings. Independent: “We are very sorry that the flight with us did not go as smoothly as planned, and we apologize for any inconvenience it caused to Leah Williams. One thing ahead: Leah Williams wasn’t being forced to buy every single pack of peanuts on board, rather the flight attendant was trying to offer her a workaround by informing all passengers sitting around her of Leah’s allergies. At first she agreed, but then she decided to buy all the packages.”
The airline says it cannot “guarantee that the aircraft is free of foods that can cause an allergic reaction, such as peanuts,” as passengers can take food on board with them.
“Since there are many causes of allergies and intolerances, the possibility of their presence on board the aircraft cannot be ruled out,” the representative added. “In addition, due to the way they are built (shape, air conditioning system, ventilation, etc.), it is impossible to prevent the accumulation of peanut / nut debris (such as debris from a previous flight), despite regular cleaning and deep cleaning . aircraft.”
Eurowings recommends that passengers with allergies carry any medications they may need, such as allergy medications and injectable EpiPens, in their carry-on baggage and inform flight attendants in advance.
“Our medically trained flight attendants always have access to emergency medicines in case of intolerance or allergic shock on board,” the spokesperson explained.
Airline allergy policies vary greatly from company to company.
While most British airlines announce if anyone on board has a nut allergy and ask passengers to refrain from eating nuts while flying, some Middle Eastern airlines refuse to do so.
Turkish airlines, for example, have already come under fire for kicking passengers with nut allergies from their flights.
Their online policy states: “The snacks we serve on our flights may include tree nuts and peanuts. If passengers with a nut allergy report this through the Turkish Airlines sales channels no later than 48 hours before departure, the passenger menu will be adjusted accordingly. However, there will be no changes to the menu of other passengers on board.”
For its part, the Emirates website states: “We cannot guarantee that our meals are nut-free. We serve nuts on all of our flights, either as an ingredient in meals or as an accompaniment to drinks. Food containing nuts may also be brought on board by other passengers, and they may carry traces of nut residue to other aircraft surfaces and through the air conditioning system. If you are allergic to nuts, we recommend that you discuss travel plans with your doctor before you travel.”
Translation Michel Padilla