LONDON—Kuwait Airways has agreed to pay substantial damages, plus costs, to an Israeli woman who was refused a ticket on a London-Bangkok flight on the grounds of her nationality. But the airline has not admitted liability.
Last November, Mandy Blumenthal was shocked to find herself stopped from buying a returning flight ticket by Kuwait Airways at Heathrow Airport in London. She was planning on returning to Bangkok. Once her Israeli passport was presented at the counter, service to Blumenthal was refused. The Kuwait Airways ticket clerk repeatedly said, as seen in the video documentation of the incident, “Israeli passport holders are not permitted to travel on Kuwait Airways.”
With the help of UK Lawyers for Israel, she issued a claim against Kuwait Airways, citing damages for racial discrimination and harassment.
“It is horrible to be singled out,” said Mandy Blumenthal. “In my mind, it is an antisemitic policy to single out the only Jewish State.”
“Ms. Blumenthal has done a service in showing up Kuwait Airways’ illegal policy,” her lawyer David Berens said. “Kuwait Airways is now legally obliged to end this policy or end its services from the UK altogether.”
Last year, the German government launched an investigation into whether Kuwait Airways has violated air-traffic laws by refusing service to Israelis. The airline also faced legal trouble in Frankfurt, Germany, for barring an Israeli passenger from flying to Thailand. However, that case was rejected by a Frankfurt court.
In 2016, Kuwait Airways halted its inter-European flights, as well as its route between New York and London, rather than allowing Israeli citizens to fly on its airline after facing legal threats in the United States and Switzerland.
JNS contributed to this report.