Welsh Poet Eliminated From Avianca Flight Over CPAP Machine Confusion

The airline’s coverage permits respiratory help tools, so why did this occur?

Wales’ nationwide poet and her husband have been faraway from an Avianca flight from London to Bogotá after her husband requested to make use of his steady constructive airway stress (CPAP) machine. Let’s take a better look beneath.

Avianca removes couple over CPAP machine

37-year-old Welsh-Iraqi Hanan Issa, the present Nationwide Poet of Wales since July 2022, posted an in depth account to Twitter of her expertise onboard an Avianca flight from London Heathrow Airport (LHR) to El Dorado-Bogotá Worldwide Airport (BOG) on Wednesday.

After boarding the flight and taking their seats, Issa and her husband inquired with the cabin crew about methods to plug in his CPAP machine. A steady constructive airway stress machine helps present oxygen to those that endure from sleep apnea – it really works by pumping pressurized air into your airways and might run on batteries or via an electrical socket.

On this case, the CPAP machine was offered by the Cardiff and Vale College Well being Board, which additionally issued the couple with a typical letter protecting the usage of the machine on a flight. After checking the machine and letter, a flight attendant returned and requested the couple if they might transfer to the entrance of the plane, which Issa mentioned she interpreted as “they have been simply transferring us to a seat he might use his machine.”

Instructed it was ‘unsafe to fly’

At this level, the cabin crew instructed the couple that the CPAP machine must keep in its bag and with employees for the whole lot of the flight, which means it couldn’t be used in any respect for the 11-hour flight. Issa’s husband defined that he suffered from extreme sleep apnea and would disturb different passengers with out the usage of the machine.

Photograph: Avianca

Simply earlier than takeoff, the couple was once more requested to maneuver to the entrance and knowledgeable that it was not protected for them to fly earlier than being faraway from the flight. Issa mentioned on her Twitter account,

“We have been instructed it was unsafe for us to fly and I’m nonetheless not sure whether or not it was: A) they didn’t need him to make use of the machine; B) they didn’t need him to not use the machine and fly. Nobody was very clear. We have been simply instructed to go away.”

The poet had been on account of seem on the Cartagena Hay competition in Colombia however has now knowledgeable her followers that she’s going to not be attending, including that she skilled a panic assault after disembarking the plane.

What are the principles on CPAP machines?

The foundations on the usage of CPAP machines differ from service to service, so it’s important to get in contact together with your airline earlier than your flight. Typically talking, you need to contact your airline not less than 48 hours earlier than your journey and in addition guarantee you’ve gotten the required documentation in your individual. Sleep Apnea Belief has created a helpful web site itemizing the insurance policies of many airways, noting that some carriers have particular insurance policies on CPAP machines whereas others don’t have any pointers on their utilization.

Avianca’s coverage states,

“For those who’re touring with your personal respiratory help tools, arrive on the airport an hour early along with the minimal established check-in time previous to the scheduled flight departure, to permit the required verification course of to be accomplished so it may be transported.”

As a CPAP machine would qualify as ‘respiratory help tools,’ it’s unclear why the airline determined to deplane Issa and her husband. Easy Flying has reached out to Avianca and can replace this story upon response.

Have you ever ever flown with a CPAP machine earlier than? Did the airline mean you can use it onboard? Tell us your tales within the feedback.

Supply: Sleep Apnea Belief

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  Avianca

  IATA/ICAO Code:

  AV/AVA

  Airline Sort:

  Full Service Provider

  Hub(s):

  El Dorado Worldwide Airport, El Salvador Worldwide Airport

  Yr Based:

  1919

  Alliance:

  Star Alliance

  Airline Group:

  Avianca Group

  CEO:

  Adrian Neuhauser

  Nation:

  Colombia