Air rage incident not at root of Emirates diversion

An Emirates flight was diverted earlier this week, but the primary carrier of the United Arab Emirates was adamant in pointing out that the diversion occurred due to a health emergency and not an air rage incident. Earlier, online newspapers and sites attributed the diverted flight to unruly behaviour on the part of an Emirates passenger. A Saudi newspaper published a story in which it claimed that a very heated exchange had occurred between two passengers on board the flight and that it risked getting out of control. A family from the United Arab Emirates and a Saudi couple disputed which seats each had reserved and according to a report in the Al Iqtisadiyya newspaper, this convinced the pilot to divert the plane and make an unscheduled landing in order to remove the quarrelling passengers.

The Emirates flight departed from Munich and was scheduled to land in Dubai. Instead, the carrier ended up making an unscheduled stop in Ankara Turkey). An Emirates spokesperson, however, pointed out that medical issues had to be addressed on board and this is why the captain decided to divert the flight. Despite these denials of an air rage incident, Emirates remains tight-lipped on precisely what type of health issue or emergency transpired on board. The Saudi newspaper that first broke the story, however, maintained that the young Saudi couple at the centre of the dispute ended up leaving the aircraft in Ankara, despite the fact that they had tickets to fly on to Dubai.

Thank you to Claire Ferris-Lay of Arabian Business for the initial report.