Couple called 'too old' for airline seats

BRISTOL, England, April 9 (UPI) -- A retired British couple say they were banned from airplane seats with more legroom for which they paid extra because they were deemed "too old" to sit there.

Marion Webb, 77, and her husband Derek, 79, paid an extra $150 on top of their $3,600 fare for a March 15 flight from Bristol, England, to Egypt on Thomson Airways, the Daily Mail reported Friday.

But airline staff at Bristol International Airport told them they were "too old" for the exit row seats and would be unable to operate the door in an emergency, the newspaper said.

The Bristol couple said they were "hurt, humiliated and angry" at such treatment.

Thomson officials eventually relented and allowed the Webbs to sit in their previously booked seats, the Mail said.

But on the return flight the couple were given seats that were not together and not in the emergency row they booked.

"Thomson must adopt a clear and cohesive policy about selling extra legroom seats," Marion Webb said.

"Being elderly does not automatically make one frail. People can be frail at any age. I do not want this to happen to us or to anyone else in future."