Vueling: France demands explanations from the airline after French Jewish teenagers disembark from a plane

After around fifty French Jewish teenagers were thrown off a plane while returning from a trip to Spain, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Jean-Noël Barrot, called the CEO of the airline Vueling to ask for "explanatory elements" , the Quai d'Orsay announced on Saturday, July 26, in a press release .

During this meeting with Carolina Martinoli, CEO of the Spanish airline, the head of French diplomacy expressed "the strong emotion aroused by the disembarkation of a group of young French Jews from a company plane." "Explanations were requested, in particular to determine whether these compatriots had been subjected to discrimination linked to their faith," the ministry added regarding the incident, which had sparked a lively controversy.

The company's CEO "assured him that a rigorous internal investigation was underway and that the findings would be shared with the French and Spanish authorities." Explanations were also requested from the Spanish ambassador to France, according to the statement.

The Club Kineret association, which organizes the summer camp, announced to Agence France-Presse (AFP) on Thursday its intention to file a complaint against the carrier "for physical and psychological violence and discrimination on the basis of religion," through its lawyer, Julie Jacob. She cited "aggravating circumstances," as some of the children were "under 15 years old."

The incident occurred on Wednesday afternoon, as the group, which had been in Spain for two weeks, was preparing to take off from Valencia airport for Paris-Orly.

In a statement released Thursday, the Spanish airline blamed the incident on the teenagers, who were accused of "inappropriate behavior" and "a highly confrontational attitude, jeopardizing the smooth running of the flight." The camp organizer, on the other hand, claimed that the teenagers had been disembarked "without valid reason."