CAA writes to Ryanair over inflight announcement that plane heading for Tel Aviv would be landing in “Palestine”

Campaign Against Antisemitism has written to Ryanair in relation to a reported announcement by cabin crew on a flight headed to Tel Aviv that the place would be landing in “Palestine”.

Passengers claimed that, about half an hour before the plane was due to land at Ben Gurion Airport near Tel Aviv, a flight attendant announced over the PA system that the plane was “approaching Palestine.” It is claimed that the announcement was repeated more than once in both English and Italian.

Passengers on the 10th June flight from Bologna, Italy, claimed that the flight attendant refused to apologise or correct the remark, and a passenger who tried to photograph the attendant was accused of creating a disturbance that risked the safety of the flight and was threatened with arrest.

Tel Aviv, and Ben Gurion Airport, are universally recognised as being in Israel, except by those who do not believe in the legitimacy of a Jewish state and content that Israel should not exist. According to the International Definition of Antisemitism, “Denying the Jewish people their right to self-determination,” is an example of antisemitism.

The Irish airline apologised to the Israeli ambassador to Ireland, claiming that the announcement was a n error by the junior member of staff.

Eddie Wilson, the CEO of Ryanair, said: “It is not Ryanair policy (or our crew practice) to refer to Tel Aviv as being in any country other than Israel. The crew member in question has been spoken to and received a warning to ensure that such an error is never repeated. Israel is an important partner for Ryanair.”

He added: “This was an innocent mistake, and the crew member apologised on the PA when they realised what had happened. We can assure you that the crew member who made the announcement was extremely apologetic and has assured us that this mistake will never be repeated.”

Two years ago, a group of West Ham fans sang an antisemitic chant at a Hasidic passenger on a Ryanair flight.