Ryanair accused of gross discrimination by South Africans travelling to the UK and Ireland

Ryanair has been accused of gross discrimination forcing passengers travelling on South African passports to complete a questionnaire in Afrikaans before allowing them to board their flights to the UK and Ireland.

The airline claimed on June 6 that this is necessary to ensure that the passport is real, telling the Metro that there is a “high prevalence in fraudulent South African passports.” The policy is not enforced in either country but is rather a ridiculous scheme concocted by an airline that knows little about the country.

According to the Metro, multiple South Africans have recently had to answer general knowledge questions in Afrikaans before being allowed to board flights to Ireland or the UK.

What makes the requirement more ridiculous is the notion that in a country of 11 official languages, all can speak Afrikaans. Only about 14 per cent of the country speaks the language daily and it is certainly not spoken by people who have not been schooled in the country.

Passengers complain of being told its your language and you must fill the form out or you can’t fly, whereas clearly for many it is not their language. It’s like saying everyone in Ireland must complete a form in Gaelic or everyone from Wales must complete a form in Welsh when few in the population do.

Some have resorted to using Google translate to complete the questionnaire whilst others haven’t been so lucky and have been refused boarding after getting some of the answers wrong.

In the case of one family, the British father had to fly to Dublin to collect and return with his family.

As Ryanair is accused of gross discrimination one wonders when if ever, the EU and other governments will finally crack down on airlines’ flagrant abuse of the rules and legislation that covers both their industry and the countries in which they operate.

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