Passenger given nothing but popcorn and crisps on 10-hour flight after Tui forgets gluten-free meal

‘Fabulous way to end our lovely honeymoon’ says newlywed

(Reuters)

A newlywed returning from his honeymoon was left hungry and disappointed after Tui failed to provide a gluten-free meal for him on the 10-hour flight home.

James Howe had paid for premium seats and pre-booked special meals as he suffers from coeliac disease, meaning he can’t process gluten.

However, the 39-year-old from Watford was given just popcorn and crisps to survive the long-haul flight from Cancun, Mexico to Gatwick airport on 18 October.

“Thanks Tui, this was the gluten free meal option given in premium flight on our way home from Mexico,” he wrote in a Facebook post to Tui, alongside a picture of him holding up bags of popcorn.

“Popcorn and crisps to get me through 10+ hours. Fabulous way to end our lovely honeymoon.

“PEOPLE BEWARE if you book a meal ‘they are subject to availability and nothing is guaranteed’. This is news to me!”

He added that Tui’s customer services team had “brushed this off” with an apology.

“Well, sorry I won’t be booking another holiday with you and advising anyone to go anywhere near a Tui shop,” he finished.

Mr Howe told the MailOnline that he had pre-booked a gluten-free meal when he bought the flights in July. On the way out, everything went smoothly, but on the return journey cabin crew seemed to have no record of his request and had not brought enough appropriate special meals onboard.

“As we had already taken off, there was nothing the crew could do,” he said, adding that they even brought out the captain’s meals to see if any of them were gluten-free.

“They could see how hungry I was,” said Mr Howe.

A Tui spokesperson told The Independent: “We’re very sorry to hear of Mr Howe’s experience on his journey home from Cancun.

“We have contacted the customer directly to apologise and offer a gesture of goodwill.”

It’s not the first time a passenger has been let down by an inflight meal.

A woman on a British Airways flight was left disappointed when she was served plain tofu, plain rice and baby corn as her vegetarian meal.

Branding the offering “truly pathetic”, film director Carolyn Saunders tweeted a picture of the uninspiring-looking dish.

“British Airways this is the sad vegetarian meal you saw fit to give me on a long YVR-LHR flight,” she tweeted.

“Would you eat this? Would anyone? Plain tofu with plain rice and a baby corn cob from a tin?

“Why do you think vegetarians don’t like food? Please do better.”

A British Airways spokesperson said: “We pride ourselves on the quality of the meals we offer on board, and have heavily invested in our catering, in all cabins.

“Customers can pre-order from 14 special meals, including vegetarian, vegan, gluten free, kosher, low calorie, and low salt options.

“We are in touch with our customer and are investigating with our supplier.”