Could be the plastic in the plane, could be the composition of the seats, could be nerves caused by flying.

As BrightonBill says, you should see a doctor and get allergy testing done.

As I am just out of hospital, obviously I have seen doctors. I wasn't asking for medical advice from fellow travellers. However, what I asked was "has anyone else had this problem?" If it's a know problem I need to notify the airline, so they may avoid it or add warnings.

There is some talk online about food/airborne peanut allergies but that does not apply. It would appear to be chemical.

Ok, what airline and what chemical?

Really if this was a widespread problem I am sure it would have been in the news.

Your allergy is specific to you. If you were to notify the airline you would have to say putting the chemical trietholmetholterrible in the cabin air needs to be published (or whatever is making you ill). Since you have no idea what you reacted to what would you tell them?

Did others on your flights get ill that you know of?

As you didn't say you had just come out of hospital, it should be obvious that people are going to suggest seeing a doctor. I think if it was a know (sic) problem you would have heard about it before, and so would the airline! As far as I know the air is a mixture of fresh and recycled air and is filtered.

Never had a problem and don't know anyone that has.

There is some talk online about food/airborne peanut allergies but that does not apply. It would appear to be chemical.

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Based on what? Your uninformed comment? What do you know aabout "chemical' and I'm going to take a fleywr and say nothing".

Unless you are at the sun, everything is "chemical" including water and oxygen.

Allergic reactions dont always show up the moment you get into contact with the trigger. They may show up days later and have been caused by something other than aircon on a plane.

Consider anything you eat or use prior to a flight. Airport junk food?

I'm a frequent flier and 60something. Never had a prob. with cabin air but with junk food causing a histamine reaction similar to yours. This is not an allergy.

If it's a know problem I need to notify the airline, so they may avoid it or add warnings.

Avoiding air conditioning is going to be impossible,unless you wish to travel in a NASA astronauts suit.The pressurised air that you breath is bled off the engines,cooled and routed through the airconditioning packs.

Has anyone else returned from (short haul) only to find their lips and face swelling up, hives, rash, breathing problems etc? This has just happened to me for the second time immediately after a flight

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No, never, and we have allergies and asthma galore in our family.

I am not sure how one would "alert" the airlines. You could have had a reaction to anything. It would be difficult to pinpoint exactly what it was. You may have to go back your travel preparations step-by-step and see if you've used different products, etc.

For example, you could use a hand sanitizer while traveling and that could contain some allergan for you.

Perhaps taking an antihistamine before a flight, and having an epi-pen for an emergency, even an inhaler, would be helpful for you.

You could even have sat next to someone who had a perfume that didn't agree with you. Sometimes I start to sneeze for no apperant reason.