Pretoria Drever and Rhonan Kelly said they were “absolutely gutted” to miss their trip to Amsterdam but felt they “probably would’ve died” had they stayed on the KLM plane
A British couple claim they had no choice but to leave their aircraft and miss their holiday despite boarding — as staff “ignored” their nut allergies.
Pretoria Drever and Rhonan Kelly say KLM flight attendants continued to hand out free almond-topped cakes, even though they had told employees of their airborne allergies. Despite again raising their concerns after boarding, the couple decided they had no option but to disembark and miss their holiday to Amsterdam booked for Rhonan’s 25th birthday.
KLM says it “cannot control or prohibit other passengers” from eating products that contain — or may contain — nuts during flights. It did, though, state staff do request tourists refrain from doing so by delivering onboard announcements upon boarding.
But the situation at the gate at Edinburgh Airport on Saturday October 25 became so concerning for the couple, they felt “backed into a corner” and left the aircraft.
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Rhonan, who recently got engaged to Pretoria, said: “I’ve never felt so discriminated against in all my life. I honestly believe if we took off on that flight and they served the nuts they’d have taken an emergency landing in London or we’d have probably died on the flight.
“When we book a holiday, we always double check with the airline [about our allergies]. We asked if they’d put an announcement out to ask passengers not to open anything if they do have nuts in them and if they could not sell nuts on the plane.
“Even the menu for that day was meant to be a cookie but when we got on the plane it was a banana loaf with almonds and nuts on it. The manager on the plane was saying ‘we’re not going to stop selling [nut products]. We spoke to KLM Amsterdam and they’ve told us to go ahead with selling the nut products and they can’t put an announcement out’. They said if we don’t like it, we have to basically not fly.
“I was angry but it was very embarrassing. I felt as if I was backed into a corner because no matter what we said or did, we knew we weren’t going to win.
“The pilot said that basically they need to carry out a service for what everybody’s paid for but I paid for it as well. I feel quite disgusted that an airline would do something like that.”
Although staff allegedly told Pretoria and Rhonan EpiPens were onboard, the couple felt this was not sufficient because it is only a short-term measure and typically effective until paramedics help.
Now, having missed the two-day trip, Pretoria and Rhonan, from Bellshill, Lanarkshire, hope to get a refund from KLM, the flag carrier of the Netherlands. They say they declared their allergy to nuts and peanuts on an online form, and arrived two hours early to Edinburgh Airport so they could alert staff on Saturday.
“I was absolutely gutted [to miss out on the trip] It’s put me off using that airline again and it’s actually putting the fear in me flying. I have to build myself up to be able to go on a plane. I know the air is circulated and I know that’s the chance I take,” Rhonan added.
Pretoria, who works in car insurance, admitted she could go into anaphylactic shock within just two minutes of nut exposure because of her airborne allergy and the experience has put her off flying.
Pretoria said: “Before we got on the flight, I had such bad anxiety about flying but I thought ‘it’s only an hour and a half’. But it was the worst experience ever.
“It made me feel I was different to everyone else. It was humiliating getting off the plane and as if we were less than everyone else, as if we’ve paid less so we should be leaving.
“But we obviously paid the same as every other passenger. It made me feel rubbish and unwanted. No-one even stuck us for us or said ‘I won’t eat that so they can fly’.
“They were putting our safety at risk. There’s two of us but 190 passengers so that’s the whole air with nuts in it, it was horrible. I’ll never fly with them again and it’s put me off flying ever again.”
A KLM spokesman said: “We are sorry to hear about the experience Mr. Kelly and Ms. Drever had prior to their flight from Edinburgh to Amsterdam.
“We understand how serious nut allergies can be and how distressing this situation must have been for them. When a passenger informs our crew about a nut allergy, we can make an onboard announcement kindly requesting fellow passengers to keep nut-containing products sealed for the duration of the flight.
“However, we cannot control or prohibit other passengers from consuming products that may contain nuts during the flight. While we do our utmost to support passengers with allergies, we unfortunately cannot guarantee a nut-free environment on board.
“More information can be found on our website: https://www.klm.nl/en/information/travel-class-extra-options/dietary-meals We regret that Mr. Kelly and Ms. Drever felt they had no choice but to leave the aircraft, and we understand their disappointment.”
