New Delhi: A 27-year-old British woman with a severe nut allergy had no choice recently but to buy every single packet of nuts onboard her budget flight after the crew refused to ban the snack.
Flying out of Germany’s Dusseldorf to London, Leah Williams asked the staff of the Eurowings flight to alert other passengers about her allergy and request them not to buy or eat peanuts.
The crew, however, ignored her concerns, Williams claimed, leaving her with no option but to buy all 48 packets at three pounds each. That cost her three times her ticket price of 50 pounds, The Mirror said.
Williams asked the crew to bag up the nuts as she did not want to take any risk, having broken out in hives once before when a fellow passenger tore open a packet near her.
Leah told British tabloid Mirror that the stewards thought she was crazy when she offered to buy out the peanuts, saying: “But there is a lot, we’ll have to count them all.” She told them to count and said she would pay as the crew had left her with no choice.
The design firm worker from Hampshire, England has demanded a refund from Eurowings, saying: “Eurowings should be ashamed of how they handled this situation and for the way they made me feel.”
Apologising for the inconvenience caused, a spokesperson from Euroswings said: “Leah Williams was not forced to buy the peanuts and was provided with an alternative way out by informing all the passengers sitting around her about her severe allergy.” They claimed Leah did agree with the solution at first but still bought all the packets.
“Passengers frequently bring their own food onboard making it difficult for the airline to make sure that the aircraft is free of any allergy causing food like peanuts,’’ the airline said.
The company added there were a lot of causes behind allergies and intolerances and it was impossible to eliminate the possibility of their presence or traces in a flight regardless of thorough cleaning – due to the plane’s construction, like ventilation, shape, etc.
The airline has advised passengers with allergies to carry medication or an Epipen in case of an emergency and also inform the cabin crew in advance.
The spokesperson also said: “Our medically trained cabin crew always has access to medication to provide emergency medical care in the event of an intolerance or allergic shock on board.”
Also read: Study finds how to treat food allergy diseases in children