When you want to fly abroad, where do you start?
Firstly, I am a huge advocate of research. Unfortunately, when you are travelling with allergies, you can’t just book a flight and assume that everything will be ok. It starts by researching the airline.
Who should I fly with?
Now, this is very much dependent on your allergies. I can only speak about flying with a tree nut and peanut allergy – of which, peanut is my most severe.
In the UK, we are blessed with a range of airlines who do have accommodating policies. Many of which state the following:
- board the airline first to wipe down the seat area
- refrain from selling products containing nuts
- make an allergy announcement
However, if you have an airborne tree nut allergy this can be harder to navigate as many airlines have stopped selling peanuts or including them in airline meals but still include tree nuts.
Experience of accommodating airlines
British Airways – announcement, no peanuts sold and pre-boarding. They do however include tree nuts in dishes.
Virgin Atlantic – identical policy to British Airways in my experience
TUI – announcement, no peanuts sold and pre-boarding. They did however sell almonds as a snack in premium economy!
Ryan Air – announcement, no nut products sold and pre-boarding
Delta – announcement, they stop selling peanuts and make an announcement if they have an allergic passenger on board. However, Delta do sell peanuts on other flights so there is a risk of cross contamination!
OIT & Me 