Passenger refuses to accept compensation after EasyJet steward opened loo door mid-flight

An airline passenger was offered £500 after an air steward burst in on him using the toilet mid-flight - because he'd been in the loo too long.

Adil Kayani, 35, was left red-faced when an EasyJet steward barged in on him whilst he was sat on the loo, with his trousers around his ankles and has now rejected the airline's offer of compensation. He also claims there was an element of racial profiling in the incident.

EasyJet said staff opened the door for "safety and security reasons" after Adil had been in there for more than 15 minutes.

But Adil said he was in there for under 10minutes and was left mortified after being "exposed" when the male crew member unlocked the door from the outside, two hours into a flight from Marrakesh to Manchester.

Mr Kayani, a food wholesaler from Birmingham told the Yorkshire Post: "There was a heavy knock on the door. I shouted 'I'll be out soon hold on a minute'.

"But then the lock turned from red to green. Someone had opened it from the outside and forced their way in.

"I was still sat on the toilet and I was completely exposed. I shouted get out and he shut the door immediately.

"They didn't do this to anyone else on the flight. It's not as if I was in the toilet for a long time. I feel completely violated."

"When I came out of the toilet I saw the guy who opened the door but he avoided me.

"I was expressing I was unhappy about it. I sat back down and a stewardess was sent over to explain. She said it was part of their safety and security policy."

Mr Kayani now feels the incident was predicated upon his Pakistani heritage, rather than concerns for his welfare.

He claims staff of interrupted his toilet break after becoming "suspicious" of what he was doing: "I think it was racial discrimination. They can see the colour of my skin. I was racially profiled. It was discrimination. I think it is Islamophobic.

"I feel like my dignity was violated and my dignity is more important than the money.

"I'm just not happy with that. I want a proper apology from the individual who I feel was not only dismissive, but extremely rude and arrogant.

"I was made to feel like a criminal. It was really humiliating for me.

"That is the first time anything like that has ever happened to me. The only way I can make sense of it is because of my racial background.

"Why else was no one broken in to? It doesn't make sense."

An EasyJet spokesperson said: "EasyJet is sorry if Mr Kayani is unhappy, however the cabin crew correctly followed safety procedures by knocking on the toilet door and then opening it after there was no answer following a concern that a passenger had been inside for some time.

"This procedure is in place to ensure passenger safety of all passengers on board including the well being of the customer in the toilet.

"There is absolutely no evidence to suggest that race played a role."