Emirates apologises after asking teen to leave plane

DUBAI - Emirates has apologized after asking a teenager with autism and epilepsy to disembark from a from a flight bound for France. The teen's mother, Isabelle Kumar, posted a video of her distraught son before he was asked to leave the flight.

Thanks @emirates for removing our family from your flight. Our son has epilepsy: we had told you, just come 14 hr from Melbourne, got his doctor on the phone & medical clearance while still on board. He has #autism & severe learning difficulties - v traumatic. pic.twitter.com/1JXw9A4EYM
— Isabelle Kumar (@Isabelle_kumar) July 25, 2018

Kumar, a Euronews journalist, said her family had a doctor’s certificate clearing the teenager to fly despite his condition. Eli, 17, was travelling with his family last week on a France-bound flight in Dubai on Wednesday, following a multi-city stopover from New Zealand via Melbourne in Australia. His mother said that after they left the plane, Emirates staff said he was fine to get on the plane, however there were no more flights available. "Once kicked off - your staff immediately agreed that he is fine to fly - as he has been with every flight with you @emirates. Now there is no flight home. Kids totally distraught and humiliated. Where is your humanity? " she wrote on Twitter. Emirates has issued an apology after the incident. “Such situations are usually difficult for operational staff to assess, and they opted to act in the best interest of our passengers' safety as well as on advice from our medical team,” Emirates said in a statement. “Our customer service team has been in touch with the family, and we have offered them complimentary hotel stay while in transit and rebooked them on another flight that departed on 26 July," the airline added. In France, the secretary of state for people with disabilities reacted to the incident, citing a "lack of training for flight personnel" to handle such cases. Sophie Cluzel told Euronews: “It is discriminatory for people with disabilities to not be able to access these flights while the family had taken all precautions.” GAD/Expat 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