AIRLINE Emirates has dealt a final, fatal blow to an aid worker who is due to fly to Africa in May to take care of disabled orphans.

For the past week, 68-year-old Brenda Johnson, from Stratton, has been trying to persuade bosses at the Emirates Group, which made record profits of £2.2bn last year, to waive the £800 baggage fee that they demanded she had to pay.

But after much wrangling, she has been told that the airline will no longer be considering her request, leaving her to make alternative arrangements.

A forlorn Brenda said: “I had a phone call from Emirates on Tuesday to say that my request has been definitely refused and there is no point appealing because the decision has come from the top.

“So, it’s back to the drawing board. Unfortunately, when I have sent parcels in the past by post, none of them arrived, and the home in Mongu said there is no point posting anything to them because parcels mysteriously disappear.

“I will try FedEx or some other company to see what they say.”

Retired teacher Brenda is due to make the 5,000-mile trip to Africa in May to take care of severely disabled kids in an orphanage in a remote village in Zambia.

She’s planning to take a 30 kilo suitcase filled with clothes and useful items for the children and just enough supplies to see her through her two-month stay.

The airline has a standard 30 kilo luggage allowance and Brenda’s extra suitcase, filled with underwear that the orphanage desperately needs, would add an extra 20 kilos.

When she asked about breaching the weight limit, she said she was told that it would cost her £40 per kilogram for doing so – a staggering £800 extra.

When she first heard she would be unable to take the luggage she needed, she said: “It’s a real shame, in this day and age, that people can’t find it in their hearts to help.

“They are a well-renowned airline and they can’t take this one little suitcase – it doesn’t cost them anything.”

In a belated response, Emirates stressed its own generous baggage allowance its commitment to supporting charitable causes in the Third World.

A spokesman said: “The weight of each passenger’s baggage can have a significant impact on the overall load of the aircraft and fuel consumption.

“For such cases we normally recommend looking at other shipping solutions which are better suited for customers looking to ship large volumes.”

Ideally, Brenda needs to raise the £800 excess baggage fee before she goes to Zambia in May.

Explaining why the orphanage needs so many pairs of underwear, she said: “The ones who have no legs spend a lot of time on their bottoms and their underwear gets worn out very quickly.”

If anybody would like to donate to Brenda’s cause in order to ensure the orphans get what they need, email thomas.haworth@newsquest.co.uk or call 01793 501774.

Emirates declined to provide an updated comment.