London - Faced with a £90 (around R1 500) charge from British Airways for his extra bag of clothing, Ryan Williams thought he had the perfect solution.
The fashion designer decided to put on eight pairs of trousers and ten shirts at the check-in – but became embroiled in a row with staff, ending in his arrest.
The 22-year-old missed his BA flight from Iceland to the UK, and claims he was also barred from an easyJet plane the next day.
Mr Williams, who makes music and designs clothes under the name Ryan Hawaii, filmed the row with airline staff at Iceland’s Keflavík International Airport, whom he has accused of racial profiling. ‘If I was a young white male or young white female I would have been treated slightly differently,’ Mr Williams, from Catford, south London, told MailOnline.
@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
British Airways said the decision to deny boarding was not because of the luggage and was ‘absolutely not based on race’ but on Mr Williams’s behaviour.
Spoke to @easyjet via dm and this was there response, can't believe this is real life right now... pic.twitter.com/h8EqkEwTpH
— Ryan Hawaii (@RYAN_HAWAII) January 13, 2018
A spokesman added: ‘We do not tolerate threatening or abusive behaviour.’ After giving police a statement Mr Williams returned to the airport the next day to get an easyJet flight, but says he wasn’t allowed to board. EasyJet confirmed the captain and crew ‘were concerned about reports from the previous day’.
Mr Williams, who flew home on a Norwegian airline, said that both easyJet and British Airways had refunded him after he complained.