Somaliland: Flydubai Flight Delayed at Hargeisa Airport After Passenger Declined Alternative Seat

HARGEISA, Somaliland (Horn Observer) A UK-Somalilander mother with a baby was bared Dubia bound flight on Friday at the Egal International airport in Hargeisa, resulting a Somaliland minister on the flight to protest the unprofessional conduct of the crew and cancel his flight with FLYDUBAI, officials and local media said.

The incident happened after a mother carrying a baby boarded the flight and took a seat other than the one assigned to her and refused to take an alternative seat and thus resulted a minister traveling with the same flight to protest the incident and cancel his trip.

“This lady who is carrying the baby is a Somalilander, traveling to UK. She came to airport on 4:30am to catch the flight and I came around 6:30 to fly with FlyDubai.” Somaliland Minister for Public Works, Ali Hassan said explaining what he witnessed in detail.

“I even addressed the incident with the captain of the flight but went unsuccessful” the Minister said.

In a statement about the Friday’s incident, the airline said the passenger did not accept the alternative seats offered by our trained cabin crew and subsequently did not continue her travel to Dubai.
It says the total delay‎ of the flight was 1 hr 39 minutes.
“We apologise to all the passengers onboard today’s flight for the inconvenience caused by‎ the delay.” It has added. “We are currently investigating further with all parties involved.”
Flydubai, also registered as Dubai Aviation Corporation, is a United Arab Emirates Government-owned low-cost airline that operates four flights to Hargeisa, the capital of breakaway Republic of Somaliland and Dubai, UAE.

SOURCE:HORNOBSERVER ,SOMALIUPDATE &Horndiplomat