A mum from Northern Ireland has spoken out after her daughter's nut allergy scare on a recent flight.
Ciara Mullan and her family were travelling to Dublin Airport from Tenerife with Ryanair on Thursday, July 21. The Newtownards mum made sure to alert the airline to her 17-year-old daughter Abbie's serious airborne allergy to nuts and coconut before they were due to fly.
Initially when they boarded their flight on Thursday night, the Cabin Manager "couldn't have done more" to help the family and put their mind at ease. However, the situation soon turned sour due to another member of Cabin Crew and later a member of the customer service team.
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"We normally wait until the last to board as we know then people will have been listening to the announcements, so when we boarded the flight the cabin manager took note of her allergies and he did two announcements before take off, he was brilliant," mum Ciara explained.
"It was only by pure chance, the chicken curry was sitting on the trolley and I could see it from where I was sitting. When she got closer, I told another cabin crew member my daughter has airborne allergies, I said they couldn't sell the curry as she can't be near nuts or coconuts. It clearly stated on the front of the box it had coconut milk in it.
"She said they could sell it, as people would go hungry on the four-hour flight. But I said it was life or death, if my daughter takes an anaphylactic reaction. She said 'it'll be fine.'
"I went up and spoke to the cabin manager and he literally bolted down the plane, and told her they couldn't sell the curry. The other cabin crew member then said 'it's OK, we can just sell it at the back of the plane.' He took her to the side and spoke to her, then apologised."
Ciara said she reached out to Ryanair on Twitter after the incident, to highlight the issue to them as "it's clear some of the cabin crew don't have the training." But she was shocked by the "ridiculous" response she received to her direct messages.
In the messages, seen by Belfast Live, Ciara explained the situation to the customer services team. The response she received from staff member Rubén said: "I think is understandable that a phone [sic] plane is not going to be affected by one passenger's allergies. I'm sorry but I'm with the crew here."
After explaining that the Cabin Manager agreed with her, Ciara asked Rubén if he'd like to amend his response before he replied saying: "Sorry, I don't have a different answer. Feel free to set a complaint if you wish."
A disgruntled Ciara replied saying before he responds in a "foolish matter," the staff member should educate himself on the dangers of airborne allergy and anaphylactic shock. In response, he said: "I'm literate enough to know what an anaphylactic shock is, that's why I assume a passenger eating whatever thing with coconut 15 rows behind you is not likely to affect your daughter.
"Don't take it wrong, I'm still sorry for the bad experience, but since you were a little hard on me, well, response deserved at least. Said that I'm not responding anything further, sorry. Again, sorry for the inconvenience."
Ciara said: "I wanted to highlight the issue to Ryanair and the response I got from them was ridiculous.
"Abbie has had reactions in the past, once in the back of the car just because a bun had been sitting beside another that had coconut, there was no coconut in that bun, it had just happened to be sitting beside it.
"If he just came back and said thanks for letting him know, apologising and saying they would look into it and even potential training. But to come back with those responses was just horrendous."
In response, a spokesperson from Ryanair said: "Once crew were alerted this passenger had a nut allergy, two separate PA announcements were made advising all passengers that no nut products would be sold or consumed during the flight, and no products containing nuts were sold during this flight.
"A passenger ordered a coconut curry and was advised this meal could not be served, despite their order being taken by a junior crew member.
"Ryanair applies strict procedures to ensure the safety of all our passengers on board.”
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