Grandmother, 79, 'hauled off a Jet2 flight by armed officers for refusing to pay £9 for a frozen tuna bap'

15 November 2024, 08:33 | Updated: 20 December 2024, 14:20

A grandmother has claimed she was hauled off a Jet2 flight after refusing to pay £9 for a frozen tuna sandwich.

Lily Ifield, 79 was heading to Turkey for a four-day break for her birthday when she was served what she described as a ‘soggy’ and ‘cold’ sandwich on the flight.

She refused to pay £9 for the item, and was told by cabin crew that ‘this isn’t a restaurant, it’s a plane’.

Cabin crew arranged for police to escort her from the plane when it landed in Bodrum.

Ms Ifield, from Ware, Hertfordshire told The Sun: “The police were standing at the entrance to the plane, waiting with guns like we were master criminals.

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“We had no idea what we had done. I was turning round to people, saying "I think I've been arrested over a sandwich”.

”We were being treated like convicts over a bap,” she added.

They said police let her go when they realised what the matter was about. “They were clearly so embarrassed,” she said.

They said that when they complained to the airline, they were accused of 'unacceptable' behaviour and warned they could be banned from all UK airlines.

But Jet2 disputed her version of events. A spokeswoman for the airline told The Sun: “We can confirm that these customers displayed continued disruptive and unpleasant behaviour on board flight LS1609 from London Stansted to Bodrum, including the illicit consumption of alcohol that had been been purchased in duty free and brought on board.

“As a result, police met the aircraft on arrival at Bodrum to escort Mrs Ifield and her daughter off the aircraft.

“As a family-friendly airline, we take a zero-tolerance approach to such behaviour, and we make it very clear that customers cannot consume their own alcohol on flights.

“We will always support our crew in instances when they are subjected to disruptive, rude or unpleasant behaviour while prioritising the comfort of all customers and crew so that they can enjoy their flight.”

Reacting to the statement on The JVS Show on Three Counties Radio, Ms Ifield said:  “I don't know what they're talking about.

“I think they're so embarrassed over this sandwich and the police and the way we were treated.

“They are the ones that behaved disgustingly and disturbed me all the way through the flight.”