I am a plus size model and major airlines stopped me from boarding because they thought I was too tall

A PLUS-size model claimed she was denied boarding a flight because she was too fat for her seat.

Influencer Juliana Nehme, 38, said she was then told to buy a £2,480 first-class ticket, which has larger seats to fit her.

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She ended up staying with her mother at Beirut airport, Lebanon while her sister and nephew caught the Qatar Airlines flight to Doha, Qatar.

As a result, she also missed the connecting flight from Doha to San Paulo, Brazil.

Nehme, who had been on vacation with his family, vented online: “You deny me the right to travel. I’m desperate. Help me. They don’t want me on board because I’m fat.

“I need to buy a business ticket. I don’t have this money. I do not know what to do. There are only 30 minutes left until the plane takes off.

“What a shame for a company like Qatar to allow this kind of discrimination against people! I’m fat but I’m just like everyone else!”

But Qatar Airlines insisted she was initially denied boarding because a relative she was traveling with failed to provide the necessary Covid test documentation to board the connecting flight to Doha.

Nehme had also become aggressive towards the check-in staff, it said.

The airline added that passengers who “obstruct a fellow passenger’s seat and are unable to fasten their seat belt or lower their armrests are encouraged to purchase an additional seat, both as a safety precaution and for the comfort and safety of all passengers.”

And it insisted that this was in line with industry practice and most other airlines.

A spokesman told MailOnline: “The passenger in question at Beirut airport was initially extremely rude and aggressive towards check-in staff when one of their fellow passengers failed to provide the required PCR documents to enter Brazil,” a spokesman said the airline.

“As a result, airport security was called upon to intervene as staff and passengers were extremely concerned about their behavior.”

Juliana was not reimbursed for her £830 ticket. It is understood she managed to book another flight tonight.

She had originally traveled to Lebanon on AirFrance and said there had been no problems on that trip.

Qatar Airlines was asked for comment.

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