Josh Silver says he tells cabin crew about his nut allergy before every flight (Picture: SWNS)

A man claims he was ordered off a Turkish Airlines flight after telling the crew that he was allergic to nuts.

Josh Silver, 25, was boarding the aeroplane at Antalya airport with girlfriend Flavia Ivanaj, 21, when he highlighted his allergy to a flight attendant.

The member of cabin crew approached him shortly before take off and said that he would have to leave immediately.

He initially refused to leave but when armed police got on board he was escorted off and ended up having to pay another £550 to get a flight with another airline.


Josh, from Waltham Abbey, Essex, said: ‘I feel discriminated against for having a medical problem, I hadn’t done anything illegal or intoxicated.’



He said he had previously told Turkish Airlines that he had a severe nut allergy, but the airline disputed this in a statement.

His allergy could prove fatal if he eats nuts, but it is not so severe that it would be affected by airborne particles.

He had been on holiday with his girlfriend Flavia when they were booted off the plane (Picture: SWNS)

Josh said: ‘I do this every time I get on a flight. I will tell cabin crew when I walk on, then I will tell someone once I’m sat down.

‘The air steward came back and told me that they would not take me home. I was really embarrassed.’

Speaking about the moment they were kicked off the flight, Josh said: ‘The police put hands on my girlfriend and they removed us from the flight, they took out passports from us and kicked us off the flight.

‘The entire ordeal was over in an hour, it was really overwhelming.

‘My girlfriend was really stressed and upset by the whole thing, I told her to just stay on the flight and go home but she refused.’

Flavia said: ‘I was getting really stressed out because of the unknown. There were so many people dealing with the issue and the whole ordeal was really upsetting’

Josh added: ‘They’re putting people’s lives in the airline’s hands, if someone doesn’t know they have a nut allergy and have an attack in the air it will be catastrophic.

‘It is so easy to just ban nuts, it is such a dangerous condition.’

A Turkish Airlines spokesman said: ‘In this case, our records show that no such information was provided by the passenger until they boarded the flight.

‘Unfortunately it [was] too late for cabin crew to prepare for and take precautions against potential allergy attacks in advance.’

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