A 12-year-old girl with a peanut allergy was thrown off the plane with her family at Gatwick Airport after the captain refused to ask passengers not to eat nuts for her safety.
Speaking to The Telegraph, Nick Sollom, 48, said he, his wife and two children were kicked off a SunExpress flight after he asked the crew to take his 12-year-old daughter’s allergies into account for the 3.5-hour journey to Turkey.
He said the family were almost £5,000 out of pocket after having to make last-minute bookings with another airline and rearranging their accommodation.
Speaking from Dalaman, Türkiye, Mr Sollom said: “It’s incredible that this could happen in 2024. Great.”
The incident occurred on Tuesday night as the family tried to board a SunExpress flight to Dalaman on Turkey’s southwestern coast.
The Solloms’ 12-year-old daughter, Rosie, is allergic to peanuts. He can’t be near hazelnuts in case he suffers a type of allergic reaction known as anaphylactic shock.
According to the British Society of Allergy and Clinical Immunology, anaphylaxis is a possible cause of death for 20 to 40 people each year.
Cabin crew ‘didn’t care’
Mr Sollom said the family’s problems began when they booked flights and could not find any way to notify the airline of Rosie’s allergy.
Mr Sollom said that when he arrived at Gatwick, the SunExpress check-in desk told him to inform the cabin crew. SunExpress’s website says on the inflight menu page: “When you board, please inform our cabin crew about your allergies.”
But Mr Sollom claimed cabin crew “didn’t really care” when he demanded an announcement be made asking other passengers not to eat nuts.
“They just said the captain refused to do it. And he won’t be making any announcements. “It’s not his policy or company policy to do that.”
The family claimed the captain locked himself in the cockpit and gave orders through the cabin crew.
“They tried to say the captain wasn’t going to come out and discuss it, the matter was closed,” Mr. Sollom said.
Mr Sollom then decided to tell the passengers themselves, with his wife Georgie speaking in the first two rows. But thanks to a couple sitting behind them, the news had already spread and people were starting to tell what was going on.
Mr Sollom said everyone was very helpful, but the captain later learned that other passengers had been contacted. And he just said, ‘Take the bags out, throw them away.’
“I think tensions were increasing in the cockpit because we were not seated. They just said you should go, you should go.
‘Shocking and unacceptable’
Still suffering the humiliation of being escorted off the flight and out of the terminal, Rosie said: “The crew treated me like I had done something wrong just because I had allergies.”
Mr Sollom decided to try speaking to the captain before leaving the plane and knocked twice on the cabin door but said he was ignored.
A SunExpress spokesman said the airline takes the safety of its passengers “very seriously”.
“Shortly after boarding our flight from London Gatwick, Mr Sollom expressed concern that someone in his family group had a severe peanut allergy and requested that an announcement be made to other passengers.
“Like many other airlines, we avoid making such announcements because we cannot guarantee an allergen-free environment on our flights and cannot prevent other passengers from bringing food items containing allergens onto the plane.
“Due to the passenger’s insistence on others on the plane not to consume hazelnuts, the captain decided it would be safest for the family not to travel on our flight.”
Nadim Ednan-Laperouse, OBE, co-founder of the UK’s food allergy charity Natasha Allergy Research Foundation, said SunExpress’s actions were “shocking and unacceptable”.
The spokesman claimed Mr Sollom “slammed” the cockpit door to gain access to the flight deck, which he vehemently denies.
Her daughter, Natasha, died on an airline flight in 2016 after eating a baguette containing sesame seeds not specified on the label, leading to a fatal allergic reaction.
“Food allergies are a disease, not a lifestyle choice,” he told The Telegraph.
“Unfortunately, this is not an isolated incident. We often hear families with food allergies tell us their scary stories about airline travel. This is worrying as the world is becoming increasingly allergenic.
“The airline should immediately re-evaluate the way they interact with customers with food allergies and clearly state their policies on their website,” Mr Ednan-Laperouse added.
SunExpress said it was reviewing “the information provided during our booking process to provide more effective solutions for passengers with allergies.”
Recalling that an airport staff member who helped the Solloms off the plane told him of a similar incident in which a passenger reacted and caused the plane to be diverted for medical attention, Mr. Sollom sighed: “You’ll be damned and damned if you do that.” if you don’t.”
Food Standards Agency figures show there are currently 2.4 million adults diagnosed with food allergies in the UK.
A recent medical study found that giving small amounts of peanuts and milk to children to treat allergies may help reduce the severity of reactions and potentially save lives.