British Airways has apologised after a passenger complained about a staff member wearing a badge with the Palestinian flag.

According to the Jerusalem Post a passenger said they felt intimidated by a Gatwick check-in staff member wearing the badge in the shape of a Black Power fist.

When the passenger complained, they were initially told that British Airways staff were allowed to wear "symbols of their religious faith.”

However BA has since acknowledge this was not the correct response. 

The campaign group UK Lawyers for Israel (UKLFI) said it was assisting the Jewish passenger, who felt “shocked and intimidated” by the symbol on the badge.

The group contacted British Airways to say the company could potentially be in breach of the Equality Act 2010 as the symbol is political and may amount to harassment.

According to UKLFI British Airways replied saying that its uniform policy does not permit staff to wear political symbols.

UKLFI said British Airways has addressed the issue with the employee involved and will remind all Gatwick Ground Services staff about the policy.

British Airways told the campaign group: “We are sorry to hear that one of our customers felt intimidated and offended when travelling with us. At British Airways, we do not tolerate harassment of any kind and this is not the experience we wish customers to have.”

According to UKLFI BA also apologised for the way the complaint was first dealt with.

They said BA acknowledged “a number of errors,” in a earlier response, which saw a member of staff defend the badge.

BA said they “are investigating this internally to hopefully avoid such incorrect responses being sent to our customers in the future.”