Brazilian Juliana Nehme, 38, said that she was stopped from boarding a flight due to her size but the airline instead says she was rude and aggressive and that is why she was denied a seat.
The social media influencer claims that she was due to travel from Beirut to Doha on November 22 but she was denied boarding on her flight due to her size. This made her miss her onward connection home to São Paulo as well.
She had been on holiday in Lebanon at the time and had travelled on Air France without any problems.
According to Nehme Qatar Airways did not offer to refund the £830 she had paid for her ticket, instead they insisted that she had to buy a first-class ticket for its larger seats, which would cost her £2,480.
She then shared a video with her 156,000 Instagram followers saying, “What a shame for a company like Qatar to allow this type of discrimination against people! I’m fat, but I’m just like everyone else!”
In the end she decided to stay in Lebanon with her mother, while her sister and nephew flew home to Brazil.
“I’m spending money on hotel and taxi that I didn’t need! Can’t afford to hang around any longer. And they said I have to pay for another fare for my mother and upgrade mine to executive.
But nobody wanted to sell me! I was extremely humiliated in front of all the people at the airport! All because I’m FAT!
“Shame on a company like Qatar to allow this kind of DISCRIMINATION against people! I’m FAT but I’m SAME AS EVERYBODY!
“It’s not fair to buy my ticker and be HUMILIATED, THREATENED AND BLOCKED FROM FLYING! I NEED AN URGENT SOLUTION!”.
Qatar Airways however has clapped back with its own version of events, saying Nehme was ‘rude’ to their employees at check-in and also did not produce the PCR test results.
“The passenger in question at Beirut Airpot was initially extremely rude and aggressive to check-in staff when one of her travelling party did not produce required PCR documentation for entry to Brazil.
“As a result, airport security was requested to intervene as staff and passengers were extremely concerned with her behaviour. We can confirm that the passenger was rebooked on a flight from Lebanon.”
“Qatar Airways treats all passengers with respect and dignity and in line with industry practices and similar to most airlines, anyone who improves upon the space of a fellow traveller and cannot secure their seatbelt or lower their armrests may be required to purchase an additional seat both as a safety precaution and for the comfort and safety of all passengers.”
Read More News:
Rise of 26-storey pig farm “terrify” pigs in China