Rabat - Spain’s Iberia airlines has come under fire after its pilot allegedly said “Welcome to Palestine" upon landing in Tel Aviv.
Rabat – Spain’s Iberia airlines has come under fire after its pilot allegedly said “Welcome to Palestine” upon landing in Tel Aviv.
The Spanish pilot made the controversial announcement as he was preparing to land an Iberia flight in Tel Aviv on Wednesday, outraging the Israeli passengers.
Terribly offended by the statement, one passenger wrote to the company after the incident, according to Israeli media.
Yediot Aharonot newspaper reported that Passengers were furious and several of them tried to approach the captain while inside aircraft, prompting him to lock himself in the cockpit.
According to the same source, an Iberia spokeswoman in Israel apologized on behalf of the airline, saying that the pilot who made the announcement will no longer be flying the route to Israel.
AFP cited the Spanish foreign ministry as saying that the Israel’s embassy in Madrid complained to Iberia, adding that they condemned Wednesday’s incident.
Earlier this year, French carrier, Air France, apologized to Israeli authorities after its in-flight map appeared to omit Israel, although Tel-Aviv is one of the French airline’s destinations. The map included Lebanon, Jordan, the West Bank and Gaza but not Israel.
