A PASSENGER was left stunned after she was kicked off a flight due to her nut allergy – only for the airline to try and charge her £700 to rebook.
Hanna Olsen, a jewellery designer from South London, was travelling with Turkish Airlines from Manchester to Cape Town when she was asked to leave her connecting flight at Istanbul Airport.
The 36-year-old told the Mirror that she’d asked to read the ingredients list on the packaging of the inflight meals.
While her allergy isn’t life-threatening, it can cause Hanna to be sick, itchy, and uncomfortable.
After her request, Hanna said members of cabin crew asked her to sign a piece of paper and agree that the airline was not responsible if anything happened to her.
She said: “They said I had to sign the form to say that I take responsibility if something happens – it was a blank bit of paper, not a form.”
Ms Olsen says she told cabin crew members that she wouldn’t eat if her allergy was going to be an issue, but 10 minutes later flight attendants returned and told Hanna that the pilot was refusing to take her.
She said: “I got really upset, it was embarrassing and dehumanising.”
Hanna was then taken off the plane and stranded 2,000 miles away from home with no choice but to pay for an airport hotel room out of her own pocket.
She has claimed that Turkish Airlines wanted to charge her £700 to rebook her onto a flight the following day – she was also asked to sign a second piece of paper too.
Hanna said she was eventually rebooked onto a flight at no cost, but this incident will change the way Hanna travels going forward.
She said: “I’m never going to tell crews again about my allergy as this has been very traumatising.
A Turkish Airlines spokeswoman said: “We discussed the issue with our Customer Relations Department and we have been informed that our passenger had already [given] personal feedback through our feedback form.”
“Following this, our authorised units evaluated the case in all aspects as per our investigation policy, and took all necessary actions, and informed our passenger due to the conclusion.”
Sun Online Travel has contacted Turkish Airlines for a comment.
Hanna isn’t the only passenger who has struggled on their flight because of an allergy – one passenger was served nuts three times despite being allergic.
Meanwhile passenger Laura Merry was forced to hide in the plane bathroom during her flight after cabin crew insisted on serving almonds despite being alerted to her deadly nut allergy.
