Travel

Apprentice stars slam Finnair after they were told by pilot to ‘get off the plane’ over life-threatening nut allergy


TWO Apprentice contestants on this year’s show claim they were left “shocked” when they were told to get off a flight due to their dangerous nut allergies.

Ryan-Mark Parsons, 19, and Pamela Laird, 29, were travelling with Finnair as part of a challenge on the TV show.

 Ryan-Mark Parsons, pictured third in the middle, and Pamela Laird, second left on the bottom row, both have nut allergies

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Ryan-Mark Parsons, pictured third in the middle, and Pamela Laird, second left on the bottom row, both have nut allergies

They were travelling from London to Helsinki with the rest of the cast and crew when the incident took place, according to the Independent.

They claim they both told the Finnair crew that they had nut allergies and asked if they could make an announcement to other travellers to refrain from eating or buying nuts on board.

However, crew not only told them it “wasn’t their policy” to do so, but the pilot then told them to “get off the plane” if they had an issue with it.

The production crew resorted to begging other passengers to avoid eating nuts – although one family “kicked up a fuss” and deliberately bought and ate nuts on the flight.

 They claim the Finnair pilot told them they could "get off the plane" if they didn't like their nut policy

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They claim the Finnair pilot told them they could “get off the plane” if they didn’t like their nut policyCredit: Alamy

Ryan-Mark told the Independent: “I’m appalled at the policy adopted by Finnair with regards to their passengers travelling with a nut allergy.”

He also tweeted: “Blatant disregard for passenger safety. Shameful putting @Pamela_Laird and I at risk. Your staff couldn’t even make an announcement!”

Lottie Lion, also a contestant on the show, added: “And to mention how rude the @Finnair employees were when they addressed the situation with no manners or concern to your state. “You know where the door is”- I was shocked.”

Pamela Laird also said that Finnair needed to “understand the seriousness of the situation” and tweeted: “Anyone with a serious allergy should avoid this airline until they place passenger safety at the forefront.”

A Finnair spokesperson said: “Finnair does not make onboard announcements asking people to refrain from consuming nuts. Because we carry so many customers from different nationalities we cannot guarantee that they will hear or understand such announcements.

“Instead, our cabin crew can ask passengers on nearby seats to refrain from eating nuts or snacks containing nuts, when we have a customer with severe nut allergies on board. We are very sorry if this practice was not followed in this instance.

“Finnair is unfortunately not able to guarantee a nut-free environment in our cabins, as nuts are part of our buy-on-board offering, nor can we control what customers bring on board.

“For example, in many Asian cuisines, nuts are widely used and many of customers are from the Far East and Asia. We provide a range of special meals for customers, including a dish for our Business Class customers which does not contain nuts and is therefore suitable for most people suffering from a peanut allergy.”

Some airlines in the UK have changed their policies to help travellers with serious nut allergies.

EasyJet removed all nuts from their in-flight menus earlier this year.

Ryanair and British Airways will try to make announcements if warned ahead of time.

A number of airlines do not cater to travellers with nut allergies, however.

Brit forced to go on 26-hour bus ride after ‘getting kicked off flight when she told airline about nut allergy’

A young British teacher was forced to travel 26 hour by bus when she was kicked off a two hour flight in Buenos Aires for being allergic to nuts.

Another young woman had to sit in the plane toilet during a flight to Australia as crew “refused to stop serving almonds”.

Two kids were sent back from Manila to Atlanta when crew could not let them fly after finding out about their allergies.





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