MADRID: Several dozen French passengers were removed from a flight leaving the Spanish city of Valencia for Paris for what Spanish police and the airline on Thursday described as unruly behavior.
The carrier, Vueling, denied reports that Wednesday’s incident, which involved the removal of 44 minors and eight adults from flight V8166, was related to the passengers’ religion.
Some Israeli news outlets reported that the students are Jewish and that their removal was religiously motivated, a claim that was repeated by an Israeli minister online.
Spain’s Civil Guard said the minors and adults are French nationals. A Civil Guard spokesperson said the agents involved were not aware of the group’s religious affiliation.
A Vueling spokesperson said the passengers were removed after the minors repeatedly tampered with the plane’s emergency equipment and interrupted the crew’s safety demonstration.
“A group of passengers engaged in highly disruptive behavior and adopted a very confrontational attitude, putting at risk the safe conduct of the flight,” Vueling said in a statement. “We categorically deny any suggestion that our crew’s behavior related to the religion of the passengers involved.”
A Civil Guard spokesperson said the captain of the plane ordered the removal of the minors from the plane at Valencia’s Manizes Airport after they repeatedly ignored the crew’s instructions.
On Thursday, the Federation for Jewish Communities of Spain expressed concern about the incident. The group said that Vueling needed to provide documentary evidence of what happened on the plane.
“The various accounts circulating on social media and in the media to which we have had access do not clarify the cause of the incident,” the organization said.
“We are particularly interested in clarifying whether there were any possible religiously discriminatory motives toward the minors,” the group said.
The Civil Guard said 23 minors and two adults from the group boarded a flight belonging to another airline, while the rest spent Wednesday night at a hotel.
The spokesperson said arrangements were being made for them to leave Valencia later Thursday.
