Fiona Simpson |
A group of men was escorted from a flight as it landed at Luton airport over claims they refused to sit next to female passengers.
The passengers are said to have boarded the Easyjet flight from Tel Aviv on Monday around 2.55pm.
According to the Jewish Chronicle, the group, believed to have been Orthodox Jews, refused to take their seats next to women stating they could not do so due to religious reasons.
Following a 15-minute delay, the packed flight was able to leave after some women moved seats, the website reported.
Bedfordshire Police confirmed they were called to a disturbance on the flight as it landed in the UK but added that no offences had been committed.
The men were escorted from the plane, police said.
An Easyjet spokesman confirmed the incident.
He told the Jewish Chronicle: “Easyjet can confirm that flight EZY2084 from Tel Aviv to Luton was met by police on arrival due to a small group of passengers behaving disruptively by not complying with the captain and cabin crew’s request to take their seats both prior to departure from Tel Aviv and during the flight.
Read more: Jewish groups denounce Trump’s ban on Muslims to USA
“For the safety of all passengers easyJet’s crew must ensure that whenever the seat belt signs are illuminated all passengers are in their seats with their seatbelts fastened.
“Easyjet’s cabin crew are trained to assess and evaluate all situations and to act quickly and appropriately to ensure that the safety of the flight and other passengers is not compromised at any time.”
A statement from Bedforshire Police read: “We were called at around 5.55pm on Monday to reports of a group of disruptive men on a flight landing at London Luton Airport.
“Officers attended and escorted the men off the flight preventing a breach of the peace. No offences were found to have been committed.”
This piece was first published in Yahoo News.