Africa’s leading airlines, Ethiopian Airlines, has clarified misinformation making rounds in a viral social media video that one of its booked passengers was kicked out of the plane to create space for an identified Minister.
The rumour was first shared by journalist Larry Madowo. He claimed that the Minister looked on as the female passenger was offloaded.
“Ethiopian Airlines kicked out a passenger on my flight because a minister took her seat. They didn’t apologize, and they eventually forcefully offloaded her screaming. The minister did nothing,” Madowo posted on X, formerly Twitter.
We have since established that the incident occurred on July 19 at Bole International Airport in Ethiopia on flight ET308, from Addis Ababa to Nairobi.
According to Ethiopian Airlines, on July 19, the flight experienced an overbooking situation. Three individuals with standby economy class boarding pass arrived at the boarding gate just a few minutes before the scheduled departure time of the flight.
The Boarding Agent advised them that the flight was full and they would be protected on the next flight. However, they ignored the advice of the Boarding Agent and attempted to board the aircraft bypassing security personnel at the boarding gate.
The Airlines says that its staff members courteously asked these passengers to disembark. One passenger acquiesced to this request, while the remaining two were escorted off the aircraft by security due to non-compliance.
It is pertinent to mention that these passengers were booked in economy class, and their seating was in no way influenced by the presence of a non-Ethiopian national VIP passenger in business class, explains the Airlines.
The company says that they follow a standard protocol wherein VIPs, Business Class Passengers, and Platinum ShebaMiles members are allowed to board subsequent to the seating of all other passengers.
“A misapprehension arose among the standby passengers,leading to the distorted belief that their seats had been allocated to a VIP. This is not the case, and the circulating video does not reflect the true sequence of events.”
“We extend our gratitude to our patrons for allowing us the chance to clarify these circumstances before forming any judgments. Ethiopian Airlines is dedicated to the safety and well-being of all our passengers and to the adherence of our established operational guidelines.”
The passengers affected by the overbooking were protected on the next available flight.
It is also worth noting that the name of the said Minister is not mentioned neither his country not his docket.