Bed Bugs On British Airways Flight Bite Canadian Mother, 7-Year-Old Daughter

A woman from Canada has slammed British Airways after she and her 7-year-old daughter were bitten by bed bugs during one of its flights. Photos of the woman's and her daughter's bed bug bites were shared by media outlets.

The woman, identified as Heather Szilagyi, claimed that she and her daughter were traveling on a flight from Vancouver to London when she noticed the bugs crawling over her seat. The bugs reportedly came out from behind her in-flight TV frames and food tray during the journey.

"It was about half-an-hour to an hour into the flight I saw one. It was coming out of the back of the TV screen," Szilagyi told the Sun. "Our food came out and I went to put the tray down on my lap. I saw what was maybe a flax seed - but it started moving - it was a bug.

Despite raising the issue with the cabin crew, she, her fiancé Eric Neilson and her daughter Molly Reid, 7. The bed bug bites left her and her daughter with several painful lumps that had turned red.

Szilagyi told the Sun that the experience on board the British Airways plane ruined their trip after they spent hours washing clothes and tending to their sores.

"Once we got to the Airbnb that we were staying in, we went to sleep. My daughter had a few bites on her thighs but when she woke up she was covered, she had them all over. It was just so bad and awful, my daughter was bleeding," Szilagyi said.

While mentioning about the reason for making her story public, she said: "We just want to make sure that airplane is taken care of and so we just want to make sure that we have a flight tomorrow morning, and we have to get back into another BA flight.

"We just want to get on a plane that doesn't have fabric seats, or maybe another partner airline," she added.

A British Airways spokesman reportedly said that incidents involving bed bugs are very rare, but do happen "occasionally" and the airline deals with such cases very seriously. The spokesman also said the airline has apologized to Szilagyi, Neilson and her daughter for the trouble.

"We have said sorry to our customers for their experience," the spokesman said. "British Airways operates more than 280,000 flights every year, and reports of bed bugs on board are extremely rare. Nevertheless, we are vigilant and continually monitor our aircraft. "

"The presence of bed bugs is an issue faced occasionally by hotels and airlines all over the world," he added.

This is not the first time British Airways has faced such an accusation. Last year, the grounded a 787 fight after the bed bugs and their eggs had been discovered on-board plane following repeated complaints from passengers.

In September last year, a British Airways passenger claimed to have been bitten repeatedly on-board his flight from Heathrow to Boston.