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Kuwait Airways is Being Sued (Again) for Refusing to Fly an Israeli Passenger from Europe

May 13, 2019 - from Paddle your own Kanoo:

"A legal case has been filed in a German court accusing Kuwait of antisemitic discrimination – the second such case brought against the government-owned Kuwaiti flag-carrier in Germany. On this occasion, an Israeli businessman who booked flights from Munich to Sri Lanka via Kuwait City was denied the right to fly with the airline after he made an enquiry about the availability of Kosher meals – a special meal request that is widely available on the vast majority of airlines."

"A separate case which was originally filed in a German court in 2017 caused a public outcry in Germany but that case is still under review by Germany’s Constitutional High Court. If Kuwait Airways loses the case, German authorities may ban the airline from flying to or from Germany."

"In other cases, legal pressure in both the United States and Switzerland led to Kuwait Airways abandoning its London Heathrow (LHR) to New York City (JFK) service and other fifth-freedom flights rather than comply with anti-discrimination laws."

"Kuwait Airways says it cannot carry anyone with Israeli citizenship because of a law in its home country that bans any Kuwaiti citizen or company from doing business with Israel or its citizens. Legal experts said the airline could not rely on this law to discriminate against Israelis when it operated fifth-freedom flights – the legal implications of direct flights between Kuwait and a second country are more unclear."

"After suspending its London Heathrow (LHR) to New York City (JFK) service, the carrier instead operated flights via Shannon, Ireland for a fuel stop without picking up passengers. Kuwait Airlines then started direct services between Kuwait City and JFK in January 2019."