Woman with coeliac diseases left ‘starving’ on British Airways flight.
A woman says she was left “starving” on a British Airways nine-hour flight after failing to request a special meal in advance.
Amber Fisher, 32, who has coeliac disease, was flying from London to the Dominican Republic earlier this month.
Fisher says the British Airways’ website led her to believe she could tell a flight attendant about her allergies upon boarding and be provided with a gluten-free meal.
However, once on board the flight, she was told she should have booked the meal in advance and was given only crisps, popcorn, chocolate and celery.
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Fisher from London, said: “The air hostess said ‘we’ll have to see what we can do’ and then brought me that.
“She said ‘we’ve taken food out of the crew food too’ which was basically carrot sticks and celery sticks.
“I was like, ‘for nine hours you expect me to eat this?’ and she was like, ‘that’s all we have’. It was a pitiful amount of food.
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“I ate the whole lot but it’s like what you’d give a kid while watching a film, it’s not an adult meal that’s going to fill you up.
“I was on really strong antibiotics and hadn’t eaten in the morning so I was just starving and it was a nightmare.
“I nearly passed out at the end because I hadn’t eaten and felt really weak because of the antibiotics.
“I actually started vomiting into a bag as we were coming down – it was just water because my stomach was so empty.
“It ruined the holiday because it gave me major anxiety for days and I just felt crappy.”
Fisher said the airline’s “confusing website” was to blame for the mix-up.
“I emailed and complained and they just said: ‘We’re very sorry about this, this isn’t our usual practice. We hope you have a better flight next time.’ No compensation, no nothing,” she said.
A spokesperson for British Airways said: “We take all of our customers’ allergies and dietary requirements extremely seriously and our catering teams work extremely hard to ensure everyone has the meal they want, every time they travel.
“All our customers can pre-request one of 15 special meals free of charge, including gluten-free meals, up to 24 hours before their flight.”
