Allergy girl had to leave BA plane after cabin crew didn't make 'don't eat nuts' announcement

British Airways cabin staff refused to ask passengers not to eat nuts on the flight despite six-year-old girl's severe allergy
The girl's family decided to leave the British Airways flight (Picture: PA)
Rachael Sigee13 October 2014

A father whose daughter has a life-threatening nut allergy has told how his family had to leave a British Airways flight after staff did not ask passengers to refrain from eating nuts.

Andrew Hyams, 42, was due to fly from London Heathrow to Larnaca, Cyprus in August with his girlfried Suzy and six year old Mollie, who carries an Epipen to prevent anaphylactic shock.

Mr Hyams claims BA staff at Heathrow told him that an on-board announcement could be made, but having boarded the plane, the head cabin steward informed him that "there was nothing they could do."

He eventually decided to disembark the flight rather than risk his daughter's health, after staff were "rude" and "it felt like [he] was being bullied and ganged up on."

The family were finally able to continue their holiday by flying with easyjet four days later, it is reported.

On this flight, no nuts were served and the cabin crew made an announcement asking passengers not to open any packages containing nuts.

In a statement to Mail Online, British Airways said: "We are sorry that Mr Hyams and his family felt our crew were not sympathetic to their needs.

"We don’t use peanuts in our meals but we are never able to guarantee a nut-free environment on any of our flights, as allergens could remain in the air from previous flights or customers could bring their own food on board.

"We advise customers who suffer from allergies and need to carry emergency medication to inform cabin crew and those travelling with them, or sitting next to them, but we are not able to make announcements as we can never guarantee a nut-free environment."

The incident took place several days after a four year old girl went into anaphylactic shock on a Ryanair flight after a passenger ignored three warnings from staff and opened a packet of nuts.

She was successfully revived after an Epipen was administered and the passenger responsible was banned form flying with the airline for two years.

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