Severe peanut allergy forces woman to buy 48 packs of peanuts on a flight

The woman felt forced to buy all nuts on the plane after the crew denied her request to not sell them during the flight. Photo / 123rf

A young woman with a serious nut allergy allegedly spent more than $300 buying all peanuts on a flight from Germany to London to ensure no one else opened them.

Having once broken out in hives because a nearby passenger opened a pack of peanuts on a flight, 27-year-old Leah Williams didn’t want to take any chances when flying from Düsseldorf to Heathrow on July 13, Insider reported.

Williams had flown to Germany for work on Eurowings and told Insider that, during the flight there, cabin crew were happy to not sell nuts during the flight. They also made an announcement asking others to refrain from eating nuts.

However, on the flight back to London, the crew allegedly refused to make an announcement or stop selling the nuts and claimed it was against their policy.

Williams told Insider it felt like the crew did not understand her allergy as they asked if she needed an inhaler.

So, she did the next best thing and purchased the nuts on the flight; every single pack.

She told the airline she didn’t care how much it cost and if they were not going to help her, she would buy them out. After flight attendants counted out 48 packs of peanuts, they charged her 168 euros (NZ$303) and then asked if she wanted to take them, to which she replied: “Obviously not.”

Passengers with severe nut allergies such as Williams is one reason many airlines have stopped selling or serving peanuts on flights.

According to Eurowings’ website, it cannot stop passengers from bringing their own nuts on board. Therefore it can’t guarantee that its aircraft will be free of any kind of allergy-inducing foods.

Williams contacted Eurowings several times asking for a refund for the nuts, with no reply, Insider reported.

However, she said she wants more than a refund and would prefer Eurowings to change their policy and stop selling nuts.

When approached about the issue, a Eurowings spokesperson told Insider they were sorry the passenger was inconvenienced. The cabin crew allegedly offered to tell passengers around Williams about her allergy but she purchased all the peanuts instead.