Airlines urged to make safety changes after passenger’s anxious flight with peanut allergy

A woman has sounded the alarm about how airlines deal with passengers with allergies after an anxiety-ridden flight.

Laura Kukic suffers from a severe airborne nut allergy and can suffer a major anaphylactic reaction even if someone nearby is eating them.

Despite alerting staff on a Qantas flight from Brisbane to Singapore on July 28, she told 7NEWS.com.au very little was done to help her avoid a potentially deadly reaction.

“They said they didn’t serve nuts and then, probably about an hour into the flight, I could smell nuts,” Kukic said.

“I alerted one of the cabin crew staff and he basically said it was almonds and they had already been handed out (and) there’s nothing they could do.

“They also don’t do announcements, so other passengers around you can be eating nuts and they don’t tell them to refrain.”

She added meals available on the flight didn’t list any potential allergens, meaning she had little to eat for the more than eight-hour flight.

Kukic said she put on a face mask and was only able to eat “apples and packets of crisps” and arrived “feeling unwell” after feeling anxious for the entire flight.

But she said while she’s had issues with previous flights on Qantas and Emirates, there have been times when Qantas crews have been helpful.

“They were really good on one of the Qantas flights on my way back from England back to Australia,” she said.

She has called for airlines to be more consistent in providing care to people with allergies.

“I’ve got to the point now I’m actually really anxious because I don’t know what response I’m going to be met with,” Kukic said.

“Sometimes they can be super helpful, sometimes they’re just not ... and I feel like that’s a real gap that needs to be filled.”

Among her requests is for airlines to either announce a passenger has an allergy or to inform those nearby to avoid eating foods they’re sensitive to.