A family was banned from boarding their flight because airline staff were suspicious of insect bites on their son’s leg.
Expat Jonathan Arthur, 34, and his wife Xun Sun, 35, were flying from Shanghai Pudong Airport to London Heathrow for a family wedding.
They noticed some insect bites on one-year-old son Joseph as they went to the gate to board, and asked British Airways staff at the desk where they could buy some allergy medication, just in case.
They claim the check-in desk assistant called a medical advice hotline who said they couldn’t board — over fears the rash around the bites was actually a reaction to Joseph’s mild peanut allergy which could worsen during the flight.
to insect bites on their sons leg. Jonathan Arthur / SWNS
Staff said the tot needed a ‘fit to fly’ letter from a doctor, and were escorted out away from the boarding gate, while “feeling like criminals”.
They waited the whole day in the airport after they re-booked flights with another airline – which didn’t require a letter — for that evening.
The bites — no larger than half an inch in diameter — disappeared within 10-15 minutes of applying a bite cream and didn’t cause him any more discomfort.
Jonathan, from Doncaster, South Yorkshire, who works in marketing and sales in Hangzhou, said: “It was nothing more than swollen bites.
“At the desk they asked loads of questions after they saw the bites and so we told them about his mild peanut allergy.
“The medical staff at the airport said to apply some ointment and wait 10 minutes — which we were happy to do.
“But the BA staff said we needed to call their medical advice line.
“They thought his peanut allergy was the cause — so they didn’t want to take the risk.
“His bites were actually going down by this point, and my son was completely fine.
“But as we were speaking, staff were already unloading our suitcases.
“We were treated like we had done something wrong.”
The dual-nationality family were flying back on May 1 for a family wedding on May 3.
They had paid $4,000 for the return flights two weeks before.
The four bites on their son’s leg, back and arms were surrounded by a pink rash and slightly swollen.
They sent photos of the bites to an online doctor who confirmed from pictures that they were indeed bites, but recommended they pick up some antihistamines to help the swelling go down.
So before going to board, they asked whether there would be an airport drugstore to pick some up.
But when the staff at the boarding gate saw the bites and heard him talking about medication associated with allergies, they called over the airport’s medical team as well as ringing BA’s medical advice line.
Jonathan said: “The bites just came out red because of the heat, and because he had a nappy on rubbing against them.
“We thought there might have been bedbugs in the place we stayed — and there were lots of mosquitos around too.
“We just thought we’d pick up some allergy medicine to be on the safe side.”
Jonathan said the airport’s in-person medical team, who were not employed by BA, asked the family if they had any bite cream in their luggage — which they did — and told them to apply it.
He said they told him that if the bites started to go down in ten minutes, they would be fine to fly — but the BA medical adviser on the phone overruled it, he claims.
Despite protesting the bites and rashes weren’t related to his mild peanut allergy, Jonathan and Xun were told they would be unable to board without a fit-to-fly letter.
Jonathan said: “BA just told us we couldn’t fly, gave us a case number and someone to contact about a fit-to-fly letter.
“We knew the rash was nothing to do with the peanut allergy – the bite was already going down after we put the bite cream on.”
They are now in contact with BA and their third-party booking agency in an attempt to claim a refund.
Jonathan said: “We felt like criminals — like we had done something wrong.
“I find it strange that someone else in a different country can speak to an airport staff member who isn’t a medical professional, and diagnose and refuse boarding, without seeing the rash.
“When you pay for a service you expect to be treated like a customer, not like a hinderance.
“It felt like they thought ‘they’re not flying, just get rid of them’.”
A spokesperson for BA said: “We take the safety and well-being of our customers very seriously and do everything we can to support them when issues like this arise.
“This includes accessing specialist medical advice to assess an individual’s suitability to travel, which is what happened in this case.
“Whilst we appreciate our customer was disappointed with this decision, we never compromise passenger safety.”
