Summary
- Tus Airways encountered a disruptive situation during a flight to Israel, with six young individuals behaving unruly and causing harm to passengers and crew.
- The pilot made the decision to return to the terminal and the teens were detained by the police, despite their attempts to apologize.
- After a 50-minute delay, the flight finally took off without further issues, while the disruptive individuals were held in custody and later rebooked on another flight.
Malfeasance in the Mediterranean
Cyprus' largest airline, Tus Airways, was operating a flight to Israel last week and all was going smoothly in preparation for takeoff. However, according to Aviation24.be, during taxi, six young travelers became unruly towards other passenegers and cabin crew, with a full soda can thrown at one passenger, wounding her, and insults and expletives used towards staff.
The group jeered and laughed, seemingly spurring one another on.
Once aware of the situation, the pilot halted departure proceedings and ventured back to the terminal. There, the plane was met by police and the teens were detained. After initially calling the crew "snitches" and refusing to simmer down, they tried to apologize to law enforcement officers in the face of detention, but that did not help their case.
Following a 50-minute delay, the flight departed with no further issues. The travelers were held in custody before being released and rebooked on a later flight.
In a statement in which disruption was discouraged, Tus expressed the following sentiment:
We cannot tolerate such violence. The safety of our passengers is our primary concern and in the rare event of such incidents on our flights, whether in the airport terminal or on board, Tus Airways has a zero-tolerance policy and when necessary, asked [sic] the disrupting passengers to leave the airport or disembark from the plane.
Airline background
Tus Airways is the largest airline in Cyprus and serves select cities across the continent, from Paris to Dusseldorf, Rome to Athens, and Amman to Dubai. Its biggest market is Greece, where two cities are permanent routes and five more are seasonal.
Also based in Larnaca is Cyprus Airways. Founded in 2017 following the dissolution of the original Cyprus Airways, the current airline is the Cypriot flag carrier. Due to its age, it is less cemented than Tus but serves more destinations. Recently, Cyprus Airways took delivery of its first Airbus A220, and the aircraft looks stunning.
Tus Airways was granted special permission to fly between Tel Aviv and Doha during the World Cup in late 2022; it was the first airline to connect Israel and Qatar.
Disruptions for all
In recent news, amid airspace closures in Niger and broader Saharan Africa, it was reported British Airways' South African flights have faced delays and apprehension. While not the result of unruly passengers, such flights are an example of another increasingly busy summer period in which travel chaos, delays and restlessness run rampant.
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Tus Airways handled the situation in a timely, effective and minimally impactful manner. A brief return to the gate meant the teenagers in question could be escorted off and the flight could proceed just under an hour behind schedule. As Cyprus Airlines grows its fleet, time will tell how Tus tussles for the competitive edge.
No word on the hurt passenger has been shared.
Source: Aviation24.be