Three Arab princesses were thrown off a packed British Airways flight after refusing to sit next to male passengers they didn't know. The dispute arose when the three women from the ultra-conservative Qatar royal family demanded segregated seating. The incident left the London-bound plane delayed on a baking-hot Italian runway for nearly three hours.
Furious passengers whistled and clapped as the conflict intensified before the captain eventually ordered the women to be escorted off the plane.
As reported by the Daily Mail, the women were returning from a day's shopping in Milan. They arrived at the city's Linate airport and boarded Heathrow-bound flight BA 563, which was due to take off at 4pm. The women, all relatives of the oil-rich emir of Qatar, Bader Bin Khalifa Al Thani, were booked into business class in a party of eight which included the emir and an entourage of cooks, servants and other staff.
Instead of reserving seats (in advance) to accommodate their preferences or making arrangements with the stewards before the plant left the gate, the Qatar royal party waited until the plane had taxied out onto the runway. At that point, the two senior male members of the entourage got up to protest about where the women were sitting.
According to the customs of Qatar and other Gulf states, women are not allowed to mix with men who are not relatives. Cabin crew tried to rearrange the seats but passengers travelling together refused to give up their assigned seating. The captain tried to mediate but after more than two and a half hours of wrangling he ordered the bulk of their royal party off the plane.
A BA spokesman said: "The people were offloaded because they failed to comply with safety instructions when the aircraft was taxiing. Two passengers stood up and refused to sit down." A spokesman at the Qatar embassy in Rome said: "This was a private matter and we have nothing to say."
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