Ethiopian Airlines responds to reports of kicking out passenger in favour of Minister

In the video shared by CNN’s Larry Madowo, the passenger complained to the flight attendants over the matter, calling for equality and insisting that the minister should get off the flight.

The lady was forced out of the plane while screaming. 

In a statement, Ethiopian Airlines has claimed that there was a misunderstanding about a minister taking another passenger’s seat. 

The Airlines explained that on Friday, July 19, they received an overbooking on flight ET308 which was heading to Nairobi from Addis Ababa. 

It says 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 and were advised to book 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. Our staff members courteously asked these passengers to disembark,” the statement read in part. 

The airlines reaffirmed that their seats were not influenced by the presence of a national VIP passenger in business class. They assured the public of following 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 airlines said that the three affected passengers boarded the next flight.