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A family flying from Shanghai to London said they were refused boarding onto a British Airways flight after gate staff became concerned over insect bite marks on their baby.
Jonathan Arthur, 34 and his wife Xun Sun, 35, were flying from the Chinese city to London Heathrow for a family wedding when they encountered issues at the gate.
The couple had noticed insect bites on one-year-old Joseph while they were at the gate ready to board, so they asked British Airways staff at Shanghai Pudong Airport where they could buy some allergy medication just in case.
This prompted a check-in desk assistant to call a specialist medical service hotline, who said they could not board due to fears that the rash around the bites was a reaction to Joseph’s mild peanut allergy.
The staff were worried that if this was the case, it could worsen during the flight.
British Airways staff then told the couple that they would need a ‘fit to fly’ letter from a doctor, and they were escorted away from the boarding gate.
The bites disappeared within 10-15 minutes of applying bite cream at the instruction of airport medical staff.
The airport’s in-person medical team said that if the bites went down, they would be fine to fly, but the British Airways medical advisor overruled this by asking for a clearance letter, the family claims.
Despite paying £3,000 for their British Airways seats, the family ended up waiting an entire day at the airport after rebooking flights on another airline, which did not require a medical clearance letter.
A British Airways spokesperson told The Independent: “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.”
British Airways states on its website that you need medical clearance before you can fly if you have had a recent illness, hospitalisation, injury or surgery, have an existing unstable medical condition, need additional oxygen or are travelling for medical reasons.
In the airline’s Conditions of Carriage, it also states it can refuse to board you “if your mental or physical state or health is considered a danger or risk to you, the aircraft or any person in it.”
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