Posted on 07/28/2007 8:58:44 AM PDT by DogByte6RER
Arab princesses kicked off British Airways plane to jeers and whistles after refusing to sit next to male strangers
By RAY MASSEY - More by this author »
Last updated at 11:45am on 28th July 2007
Three Arab princesses were thrown off a packed British Airways flight after refusing to sit next to male passengers they didn't know.
The dispute - in which the three princesses from the ultra-conservative Qatar royal family demanded segregated seating - left the London-bound plane delayed on a baking Italian runway for nearly three hours.
Furious passengers whistled and clapped as the row intensified before the captain eventually ordered the women to be escorted off the plane.
The princesses, wearing traditional Arab dress, were returning from a day's shopping in Milan. They arrived at the city's Linate airport and boarded Heathrow-bound flight BA 563, which was due to take off at 4pm on Thursday.
The women, all relatives of the oil-rich emir of Qatar, Bader Bin Khalifa Al Thani, were booked into business class in a party of eight which included the emir and an entourage of cooks, servants and other staff.
After passengers had fastened their seat-belts and the plane had taxied on to the runway, two male passengers in the entourage got up to protest about where the women were sitting.
According to the customs of Qatar and other Gulf states, women are not allowed to mix with men who are not relatives.
Cabin crew tried to rearrange the seats but passengers travelling together refused to give up their allotted places. The captain tried to mediate but after more than two and a half hours of wrangling he ordered the bulk of their royal party off the plane.
It is understood that five of the eight - including the princesses and the men who left their seats to protest - were removed.
Police and diplomats from the Qatar consulate in Milan were also called in before the plane eventually took off. The rest of the Qatar party left Milan later on an Alitalia flight.
A BA spokesman said: "The people were offloaded because they failed to comply with safety instructions when the aircraft was taxiing. Two passengers stood up and refused to sit down."
A spokesman at the Qatar embassy in Rome said: "This was a private matter and we have nothing to say."
two male passengers in the entourage got up to protest about where the women were sitting
That's so typical of Islam, for men to put the blame on women for everything, and to use women as an excuse to stir up trouble for the general public.
A small victory of common sense.
Had they been proper princesses, they would have had their own 747.
LOL
no kidding!
You would think that they would know by now that reservations can be made to accommodate this. Just buy empty seats.
I keep waiting to hear about their honor killings because they obviously sat next to men during the wait.
I have questions!
Why couldn’t the people booking the flight make it known to the airline carrier that these women could not be seated next to men they didn’t know ..??
If this had been done ahead of time - the airline could have accomodated them and there would have been no issue.
This stuff is done on purpose to give the passengers an opportunity to sue the airline - obviously because they need the money [/s] - and speaking of money - why isn’t there PRIVATE TRANSPORTAION for these women - avoiding the issue entirely ..??
Part of his harem?
were booked into business class
Makes sense.
They are trying to impose Sharia law around the world. They are relatives of the blasted Emir! Why were they travelling on a public plane to begin with. Surely they realized that there would be other people on the plane and that the plane isn’t segregated between men and women. Me suspects they was peckin’ a fight!
That's what I thought, too. If they had chosen too, and planned ahead, they could have booked reserved seats so that all their party sat somewhere "appropriate."
Uh-oh.
Period.
L
I love it. We need to ostrosize these damn fools every chance we get.
In days gone by, you wouldn't have been treated like this.
Of course, in those days, you wouldn't have been queens.
I agree .. the airlines are usually willing to accommodate just about anything .. and I’m sure this is just another opportunity for the Muslims to poke the west in the eye.
If they were gonna be that picky, why not just charter/use a private jet?
The big question is this:
If this had happened on a US airlines, would the royal mooslimes now be suing the airlines, the pilot and some of the passengers?
Or does the new amendment to the Homeland Security Bill preclude such law suits?
Were they veiled? Color me paranoid, but if their faces were covered, how could anyone tell if they were really female?
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