Delta Airlines and KLM Royal Dutch Airlines have been named in a lawsuit by a family who alleges they were severely bitten by bed bugs while onboard.

In the complaintfiled on Dec. 18 and obtained by PEOPLE, attorneys for the Albuquerque family said the group of four passengers from Virginia — a husband, wife and their two children — “relied on Delta and KLM to provide them with safe and clean air transportation” but were instead met with “a bed bug infestation.”

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PEOPLE spoke exclusively with Matt Broughton and Jared Tuck of Gentry Locke, the family’s attorneys who specialize in aviation law, about the trip that “just honestly turned into a nightmare.”

On March 21, 2025, the family’s Delta Airlines flight from Roanoke landed in Atlanta, with a connecting KLM flight from Amsterdam, The Netherlands, to Belgrade, Serbia, for their vacation.

The Albuquerques purchased the round-trip flights through Delta’s SkyMiles program, which is why the airline appears in the complaint. The bed bugs were not seen until the connecting KLM flight, per the filing.

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A Delta Airlines spokesperson tells PEOPLE, “As this pending litigation eventually states, the allegations at issue relate to flights not operated by Delta Air Lines. Delta will review the complaint and respond accordingly in due course.”

KLM Royal Dutch Airlines did not immediately respond to PEOPLE’s request for comment. A spokeswoman for the airline toldThe Independentthat it was “unable to comment on the specific allegations at this time,” but will take it up via “the appropriate legal channels.”

The Albuquerques, who were on a planned vacation to Serbia to visit family and friends, claimed to have business-class tickets with a face value of $8,800.

“Our client in this, Dr. Albuquerque himself is a renowned eye surgeon,” Broughton tells PEOPLE.

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He adds that the father “doesn’t get a lot of time away from work to spend with his family. And this is precious time that was booked to spend for a family vacation that was just ruined.”

A photo shared in the complaint shows Dr. Romulo Albuquerque, a board-certified ophthalmologist, with his spouse, Lisandra Garcia, and their two sons, Benicio and Lorenzo, smiling for a selfie aboard their KLM flight.

“Approximately two hours into the flight, Mrs. Garcia began feeling like bugs were crawling on her and that she was being bitten. It was at this point that she realized that bugs were crawling on her light-colored sweater,” the complaint said.

Per the filing, the parents “immediately alerted the flight attendants, who urged them to keep their voices down to avoid a ‘panic’ on the airplane” as other passengers slept during the overnight trans-Atlantic flight.

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“Can (you) imagine being stuck on an airplane, which is basically like a tube, over the Atlantic in the middle of the night, being eaten by bugs and there’s staff telling you, ‘Just keep it quiet, don’t make a big deal’ because they didn’t wanna create pandemonium on this aircraft?” Broughton tells PEOPLE.

Additional photos shared in the complaint showed what appeared to be multiple dead bugs smushed with white napkins that read “KLM” in blue lettering, as well as a lightly colored top on the ground with a crushed dead bug.

There were also large, red welts on the children’s necks, torsos, legs, and arms.

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“They were relying on Delta and KLM to provide them safe and clean transportation across the Atlantic, and they failed them,” Tuck tells PEOPLE.

The complaint claims everyone in the Albuquerque family “was bitten multiple times by the bugs that had infested the plane’s cabin.”

Broughton and Tuck tell PEOPLE their clients have video evidence of the bed bugs “crawling” in between the seats.

The family also claimed in the complaint that before they landed in Amsterdam, they were advised against telling anyone about the infestation “because, if they did so, they would miss their connecting flight to Serbia.”

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According to the complaint, the Albuquerques “later learned that the flight attendants made a grievance” to KLM.

Upon exiting the flight in Amsterdam, KLM staff allegedly gave the family plastic bags to put their belongings in, but when the Albuquerques “boarded their connecting flight to Serbia, still (were) feeling the discomfort and incessant itchiness of the bug bites.”

The family arrived at their destination on March 22. Their attorneys tell PEOPLE the Albuquerques “ended up throwing out a lot of their personal items, including their luggage and clothing, just to be on the safe side that they weren’t gonna spread things elsewhere.”

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“There’s some scarring that’s remaining even to now,” they add.

Broughton and Tuck tell PEOPLE that as of Tuesday, Dec. 23, “neither Delta nor KLM have made any settlement offers.”

The Albuquerques are suing for $200,000 for “personal injuries, rashes, discomfort, itching, pain and suffering, inconvenience, anxiety, mental anguish, anger, fear, humiliation, and embarrassment,” as well as “medical expenses to treat their injuries,” per the lawsuit.

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