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Article

2 Sep 2019

Author:
Muia Joseph, Citizen Digital (Kenya)

Kenya: Ethiopian Airlines accused of rejecting passenger with disability; company apologises

"Ethiopian Airlines accused of rejecting passenger with disability at JKIA"

Ethiopian Airlines on Thursday came under fire after a passenger accused them of rejecting him at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) in Nairobi. Mr Harun Hassan took to Twitter claiming he was left stranded at the check-in counter at 5am despite declaring his status as a person living with disability. “The lady in yellow was rude and insensitive. She never allowed me to explain my ticket or even bother to check the details. She said no ‘provision for assistance’. They left me alone and stranded with no options,” he lamented. Mr. Hassan expressed his displeasure over the incident alleging that a supervisor, who introduced herself as Judy denied him entry since he was in a wheelchair and without an assistant. He further narrated that he has travelled alone around the world but has never had endure such mistreatment from any airline.

Ethiopian Airlines has since responded to the allegations saying: “Mr. Harun Maalim Hassan booked on ET309/27Aug19, Nairobi-Addis was not accepted due to miscommunication. We’ve been working on the recovery & hope Mr. Hassan will accept our apologies and offer. We assure the encounter does not define our standard of service. However, Harun declined their offer saying that he would travel to the United States on Thursday night on a different airline. “Ethiopian Airlines contacted me 4 apologies & offered an opportunity of flying a Business Class. However, they requested a pulldown of my Twitter& FB posts. I declined. I rather fly Economy with respect than a knee jerk inspired ‘comfort’. I’m flying 2day a different airline,”Mr. Harun said in a tweet