Airline removes six seats for world's tallest woman Rumeysa Gelgi

Turkish web developer and world's tallest woman, Rumeysa Gelgi took her first flight last month. Photo / Guinness Book of World Records, Supplied

An airline went above and beyond to allow the world's tallest woman to travel to the United States, taking her first ever flight.

Rumeysa Gelgi, who is 7 foot and 0.7 inches tall, earned a place in the Guinness Book of Records as the world's tallest woman. Finding a place on a plane is more difficult.

However Turkish Airlines took extra measures to allow Gelgi to fly to San Francisco, replacing a row of seats with a custom made stretcher.

At 25 years old, Gelgi has never taken a flight due to her condition. Born with Weaver Syndrome and hypothyroidism, which contributes to overgrowth and other medical complications, she has never been on a plane before.

Her family say even as a child she was too tall to sit in plane seats, according to the Daily Mail.

The stretcher was required to allow her to lie flat on the 13-hour flight from Istanbul. She also requires a wheelchair or walker to travel.

The six-month say in Silicon Valley was an exciting prospect for the tech worker, although getting there was a daunting prospect.

As a web developer and disabilities advocate, Gelgi has a large social media following.

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A post shared by RUMEYSA GELGI (@rumeysagelgi)

Last month she shared the journey with hr 27k instagram followers, thanking Turkish Airlines for going above and beyond.

"This was my first flight, but it certainly won't be the last. From now on, I will be very honoured and happy to fly to different parts of the world with @turkishairlines," she wrote. "A heartfelt thank you to every single person involved in my journey."

Gelgi said she was travelling to the tech hub to pursue an offer of employment and thanked the airline for their help.

"Especially for a person who works in Tech/Software industry, spending 6 months in Silicon Valley, the heart of entire world's technology, is a fantastic opportunity," she said.

"I've never been so excited for the future before."

Since 2014 Gelgi has featured in the Guinness book of records, claiming titles as the world's 'tallest living teen' and has since claimed woman with the largest hands, longest finger and longest back.

She was officially recognised as the "world's tallest woman" in 2021.