Family kicked off flight because baby was recovering from chickenpox

A family of six have been kicked off an Easyjet plane and banned from flying - because their baby was recovering from chickenpox.

Andrew Foden and his girlfriend Colette James were heading home to Manchester from Corfu with their four children when they were stopped after boarding.

Cabin crew reportedly refused to let them fly because their five-month-old baby, Aston, had a few scabs on his face after suffering from chickenpox during their week-long break.

The family stressed that he was no longer infectious, and pleaded with staff to let them travel, but were still refused.

Airport staff insisted Aston needed a 'fit to fly' certificate before they would be allowed to return home.

The baby was given the all-clear by a doctor the next day, but the family had to pay more than £1,000 for extra accommodation and to rebook flights with the airline.

Mr Foden, 43, an electrical engineer, told the Daily Mail: 'We were treated really badly - we were thrown off the plane, which was embarrassing enough, but then we were just abandoned at the airport with nobody from the airline available to help.

'Naively, we thought Aston would be fine to fly - we passed through four or five checkpoints before getting on to the plane and nobody said a word.

'We were totally shocked because he was no longer poorly - his spots were scabs and he was better.

'We feel really let down by Easyjet and the way our family were abandoned.

'We were just left to sort ourselves out and pay for our own accommodation and new flights.

'We, like many others, were unaware that a sick child could lead to these circumstances and want to warn other parents this could happen to them.'

The couple, who were also travelling with their three other children Kai, 13, Ellis, six and Zak, three, were dealt a further blow when they realised one of their cases - containing Aston's bottles and steriliser - had been sent back to Britain without them.

They had to pay £680 for seats on the next available flight home on 29 April and around £500 for extra accommodation - but will be covered by their insurance.

A spokeswoman for Easyjet said: 'We ask that passengers travelling with any infectious illness such as chickenpox, rubella, measles or mumps check our website about the guidance to whether you can fly.

'If you are travelling with any such conditions you need to produce a medical certificate confirming that you are fit to fly.

'With regards to the handling of the family at the airport, we'd like to apologise to Mr Foden and his family and would like to reassure him that we are investigating to ensure that we have an improved procedure in the future.'

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