German airline stops Jewish passengers from boarding, Lufthansa apologizes amid anger

There has been a case of a German airline preventing Jewish passengers from boarding the plane. German airline Lufthansa has issued an apology after being accused of refusing to board a flight to a large group of Orthodox Jewish passengers. The airline said some of them had reportedly refused to wear masks. 

Issuing a statement late Tuesday, Lufthansa said it “regrets the decision to prevent affected passengers from boarding and for this Lufthansa sincerely apologizes.” Responding to allegations of anti-Semitic sentiment, the airline said it was reviewing the incident and trying to find out what happened during that time.

The airline said in its statement, “We regret that a large group was denied boarding instead of limiting it to non-compliant guests. We have zero tolerance for racism, anti-Semitism and any form of discrimination.” ” The airline further said that they will “openly discuss with affected passengers to better understand their concerns and learn how we can improve our customer service.”

Reportedly, the airline refused a large number of Jewish passengers from boarding a connecting flight from New York to Frankfurt for its May 4 flight to Budapest, as some passengers allegedly violated the rules required to wear face masks. refused to comply. At this, airline staff barred all passengers who were “apparently” identified as Jews. According to local media, staff had refused entry to passengers who were “Jewish and wearing Jewish caps.”