Yahoo News Ryanair apologises after stopping prominent refugee from boarding flight
Ryanair has issued an apology after the airline prevented a prominent refugee from boarding a flight to Ireland even though he had the correct travel documents.
Iyad El-Baghdadi was supposed to travel from Berlin to Dublin on a Ryanair flight on Wednesday morning.
Mr El-Baghdadi is an Arab Spring activist who was raised in the United Arab Emirates and obtained political asylum in Norway in 2015.
The activist tweeted his 122,000 followers saying: “The Irish government website says I can travel but Ryanair says I can’t. If you love me, make some noise.”
Mr El-Baghdadi told CNN: “I called the Irish embassy yesterday to make sure I can travel. They referred to the Irish government’s website, confirming I can travel. But Ryanair denied me boarding without giving me any reason.“
“They told me ‘Our supervisor is busy.’ I was supposed to be in Dublin for a meeting and then travel onward to Oslo.”
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Mr El-Baghdadi is an outspoken critic of both Islamic movements and secular dictatorships.
He also said on Twitter: “For everyone concerned: Thank you.
“Yes, I once spent 26 days stranded in an airport after being expelled from my former country, the UAE. Yes, I’m nervous around airports.
“But if we’re anything we’re resilient. Dictators didn’t break us, an airline certainly won’t.”
Ryanair told CNN: “This customer was denied boarding because of an error made by our handling agent in Berlin. Ryanair has since made contact with the customer directly and he will travel with us later today. We sincerely apologise for any inconvenience caused.”
Yahoo News has contacted Ryanair.
