Insect found in meal onboard Finnair flight

A passenger of the national flag carrier Finnair found an insect in the meal provided by the airline on a flight early this month.

The incident took place on the Hong Kong-bound flight AY099 from Helsinki on January 3, the passenger said.

The Finnair authorities also admitted the presence of a ground beetle in the meal.

“I was a premium economy class passenger. I pre-registered a pasta. There was a big insect which looked like a cockroach inside the pasta,” the passenger told the Daily Finland.

The passenger lodged a complaint with Finnair and sought compensation, but he is yet to get any response from the airline.

Although the Finnair authority said that the passenger had been offered compensation, the passenger said that he had not received any direct reply from Finnair in connection with the incident.

“I get no compensation from them, except one bar of chocolate and two sets of Finnair playing cards from the flight attendant onboard to relieve ourselves from anxiety,” said the passenger, adding that the flight attendant had said it was not compensation and suggested him to lodge a formal complaint.

Terming the incident unfortunate and rare, Finnair communications manager Suvi Aaltonen, confirmed that a passenger had found an insect in the meal and it was a ground beetle, not a cockroach.

“We are sorry for the incident and have offered the customer compensation. Despite a thorough vetting system, the beetle ended up in the meal hidden in ingredients,” Aaltonen told Daily Finland.

The communications manager also said that such cases were rare but they do happen.

“We have investigated the case carefully within Finnair and with our suppliers. We will do our best to prevent this in future,” Aaltonen added.