Two Airlines Refused Boarding Man For Wearing Too Many Clothes

A tourist travelling from Iceland to England was not allowed to board two flights because he was wearing too many clothes to avoid excess baggage fees.

Ryan Carney Williams, who goes by the name Ryan Hawaii, wrote about the incident on his Twitter page and tagged British Airways, which refused to give him a boarding pass at the Keflavik International airport in Iceland, in the post. Following the incident, he also accused them of racial profiling.

According to Sputnik News, Williams wore eight pairs of pants and 10 shirts, which did not fit in his checked baggage, to the gate to avoid paying a $124 excess baggage. He did not have any money to pay for excess baggage, reports said.

In a 15-second video posted on Twitter, Williams is heard saying to a staff member, "Can you explain why I can't get on the flight?"

Security officers can he heard telling him to turn off the camera and asking, "Do we need to call the police?"

He also told the Telegraph: "I waited in the queue politely with other passengers and once I made it to the desk I was still refused my boarding pass. Security were called. At this point I started to film. Security tried to slap my phone out my hand. I moved. Continued to film and explain that I was well within my rights. Police were called. I spoke to two police officers and explained my story.”

Iceland Monitor reported the police were violent, used pepper spray on him and held him to the ground. Williams claimed he was arrested. He was sent back to the airport after giving a report to police.

A British Airlines spokesperson denied the incident had anything to do with race.

A spokeswoman said: “The decision to deny boarding was absolutely not based on race. We do not tolerate threatening or abusive behavior from any customer, and will always take the appropriate action.”

However, Williams was not allowed to board another flight with EasyJet the next day, "And AGAIN! Refused from 2 flights in 2 days for no valid reason," he tweeted. He then shared screenshots of his conversation with EasyJet.

Despite the message saying could not be offered a refund for his flight, Williams did receive the money back and he went home eventually after boarding a Norwegian airline flight.

The British Airways office in London also issued a statement to Iceland Monitor: “We give our customers a wide range of fares to choose from to meet their needs. Our hand baggage only fares from Iceland are as low as £47 each way, and are designed for customers who are travelling without any hold baggage. We 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 to London.”