Israeli passengers aboard a Ryanair flight between Bologna and Tel Aviv were outraged when a flight attendant repeatedly referred to their destination as “Palestine.” Photo by Photo by Omar Havana/Getty Images

By Adam Kovac June 15, 2023

An Irish airline has issued a non-apology after a crew member aboard a flight to Tel Aviv referred to their destination as “Palestine.”

According to Israeli news reports, the incident happened on a June 10 Ryanair flight between Bologna, Italy, and the Israeli city. Passengers on the flight told Channel 14 News that a flight attendant referred to their destination as “Palestine” multiple times, in both English and Italian, including on approach to Ben-Gurion Airport. 

In a statement sent to the Forward, the airline acknowledged the incident, referring to the flight attendant as a “junior crew member” who “mistakenly” said Palestine instead of Tel Aviv. 

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“This was an innocent mistake with no intent and was immediately corrected and apologized for by the senior crew member on board.”

Passengers onboard expressed outrage to Channel 14 News, with one saying they didn’t buy tickets from Ryanair “to deal with anti-Zionist opinions” from the flight staff. All they wanted to hear, the passenger said, was an announcement “that Tel Aviv is in Israel.”

In October, Ryanair announced they would be expanding their selection of flights to Israel, with over 200 weekly flights from 25 European cities.  

“Since launching in Israel, Ryanair has consistently and reliably grown its presence in Israel, diversifying the country’s tourism market, as well as driving year-round traffic and connectivity from all of Europe,” said CEO Eddie Wilson in a statement released at the time, while then-tourism minister Yoel Razvozov said the airline was a “great partner” in working towards the country’s goal of 10 million annual tourists by 2030.

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