A clothes designer was reportedly banned from two flights when he tried to fly to London from Iceland wearing eight pairs of trousers and ten shirts rather than pay for stowed luggage.
Ryan Carney Williams, who goes by the professional name Ryan Hawaii, was barred from British Airways and easyJet, The Times reported.
After a dispute with BA on January 10 he was arrested for refusing to leave the check-in desk. He was freed after giving a statement to police.
He 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 . . . ”
This was followed by a video of him 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 the same thing happened, prompting him to post: “And again! Refused from two flights in two days for no valid reason.”
Williams claimed he was told that the captain had heard of the incident and decided that he was not welcome.
He claimed he was told by BA staff that he would be allowed on board if he wore his extra clothes.
@British_Airways hi 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….. pic.twitter.com/NKgpe1cPFP
— Ryan Hawaii (@RYAN_HAWAII) January 10, 2018
He tweeted: “Was only refused because of dispute the previous day over not having checked luggage and wearing all my clothes at once (which the airline said if I did so I could board). Then still refused me on.”
He argued he could not afford the excess baggage fee as he had been “left homeless in Iceland for over a week”.
Williams was eventually able to get a flight home on a Norwegian airline.
BA said that 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.”
An easyJet spokesman 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.”
Both airlines gave the traveller a refund after he complained.