Airport lounge firm apologises after turning away family in Minnie Mouse t-shirts
Airport lounge operator Swissport has apologised for a ‘genuine mistake’ which meant a family was turned away from one of its lounges for wearing matching Minnie Mouse t-shirts.
The family of six, travelling to Disney World, Florida had paid £107 for access to the Aspire Lounge at Manchester Airport.
But staff told the family, which included a two-year-old, the personalised t-shirts didn’t fit the lounge dress code, which doesn’t allow ‘tour shirts, sportswear and fancy dress’.
The family were asked to cover up their t-shirts with jumpers or cardigans before they were allowed in, but later complained that just afterwards a man and a boy had walked in wearing Manchester United tops.
In a statement, Swissport said the staff member who dealt with the family was wrong to have asked them to cover their personalised t-shirts and had ‘misinterpreted the dress code which is designed to ensure a comfortable atmosphere for all guests within our network of lounges’.
"We sincerely apologise to the family for this genuine mistake and would encourage them to contact us directly to resolve this matter," it said.
"The entire team at Manchester Aspire Lounge will be re-educated on the dress code to ensure this does not happen again."
Bev
Editor in chief Bev Fearis has been a travel journalist for 25 years. She started her career at Travel Weekly, where she became deputy news editor, before joining Business Traveller as deputy editor and launching the magazine’s website. She has also written travel features, news and expert comment for the Guardian, Observer, Times, Telegraph, Boundless and other consumer titles and was named one of the top 50 UK travel journalists by the Press Gazette.
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