Fashion designer blocked from boarding flights wearing all his clothes
A fashion designer who tried to fly to London from Iceland wearing all his clothes was reportedly banned from two flights.
Both British Airways and easyJet prevented Ryan Carney Williams, who goes by the professional name Ryan Hawaii, from boarding their aircraft wearing eight pairs of trouser and 10 shirts.
The designer, who was trying to avoid paying to check in a suitcase, was arrested on January 10 after refusing to leave the BA check in desk at Keflavik Airport.
He was freed after giving a statement to the police, said The Times.
Williams tweeted: "Being held at Iceland Keflavik airport because I had no baggage put all the clothes on and they still won’t let me on.~Racial profiling? Or . . . " He included a video of himself asking why he could not board and a staff member saying: "Do we need to call the police?"
When he rebooked a flight with easyjet the next day, he was also refused, and tweeted: "And again! Refused from two flights in two days for no valid reason."
Eventually, he flew home with Norwegian airline.
British Airways said that Mr Williams had hand luggage but had not paid for a bag to go in the hold. A spokeswoman said: "We do understand that our customers’ plans can change so they can choose to pay a fee at the airport if they need an extra bag. We explained our policy to our customer and arranged an alternative flight."
A spokesman for easyjet said: "The captain and the ground crew were concerned about reports from the previous day so we provided a refund and he travelled with another airline."
BA also refunded Williams’flight after he complained. He had argued he could not afford the excess baggage fee as he had been left homeless in Iceland for more than a week.
Linsey McNeill
Editor Linsey McNeill has been writing about travel for more than three decades. Bylines include The Times, Telegraph, Observer, Guardian and Which? plus the South China Morning Post. She also shares insider tips on thetraveljournalist.co.uk
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