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Ethiopian Airlines eats humble, hands wheelchair passenger unspecified ‘offer’


Ethiopian Airlines has publicly apologised to a passenger who was left stranded at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport on Tuesday morning, apparently because he was on a wheelchair.

In a statement via Twitter, the airlines explained that the said passenger was not allowed to board the flight owing to a ‘miscommunication’.

It also announced that the passenger had been handed an unspecified ‘offer’.

“Mr Harun Maalim Hassan booked on ET309/27Aug19 Nairobi-Addis was not accepted due to miscommunication. We’ve been working on the recovery and hope Mr. Hassan will accept our apologies and offer. We assure the encounter does not define our standard of service,” the airlines said.

This matter came to light when Hassan vented his frustration via social media.

In a series of tweets, Hassan, an author, and Disability Rights Campaigner, explained how the airport staff treated him insensitively and denied him assistance because he was disabled.

“They left me alone and without options,” he claimed.

Ethiopia Airlines had earlier responded to Hassan’s complaints and asked him to share his travel details for further investigations.

According to Hassan, the airlines had initially apologised and offered to fly him Business Class but on condition he deletes his tweets, an offer he flatly declined and instead opted to travel to Addis via a different airline.