Nadine Osman

Aer Lingus cabin crew were praised of their handling of a man who was verbal abusing Muslim passengers, it has emerged.

The man who was targeting the Muslim passengers was removed from a flight from Dublin to Berlin on October 23.

“Before taking off, a passenger showed abusive behaviour against two other Muslim passengers,” wrote another passenger, Khalid Wafiq Kamel, on Aer Lingus’s Facebook page (see below). “The crew reacted promptly to stop him, and the offending passenger was removed from the flight.”

In a statement to The Muslim News Aer Lingus said its crew “are fully trained to deal with disruptive incidents that may arise on board our aircraft, and do so according to our operating procedures.”

Kamel, who is of Egyptian descent said the crew’s reaction “made my day,” adding: “As a Muslim, I felt safe and respected being in Ireland and on Aer Lingus. As one of the crew said, ‘We are all Equal’.”

Over 11,000 people had liked Kamel’s Facebook post as we publish, with the vast majority of comments reacting positively to his sentiment.

“Well done Aer Lingus,” said Theresa Corcoran, who replied to his post. “There is no place for racial hate in Ireland.”

“I have been here is this beautiful country for 15 years,” said another, Syed Ahmed. “I have so much love and respect for the Irish people the way I have been treated fairly in this country regardless of colour, race or religion.”

“We’re so sorry to hear that this took place, but we’re glad that the crew handled the situation well,” Aer Lingus’s social media team replied.