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The Indians, flying to Mumbai from Washington via Paris, complained that they were confined to the lounge on Monday with just some water and a sandwich after their plane reached Paris late from Washington and they could not board the connecting flight to Mumbai.
The passengers of the flight AF025 alleged that while they had to remain at the airport, people with American passports were given transit visas, provided accommodation and taken care of.
Complaining of discrimination and insensitivity towards them, a passenger Gwyneth Alphonso said, "We were not put on the immediate connecting flight on the same day. We were told that we have to just adjust within the environment. (Those) who held American passports were given visas and accommodation and were taken care of. But we who had Indian passports were the only ones to be denied any kind of help at that place".
The passengers said the airline extended an apology to the passengers through an SMS.
Over 50 Indian passengers had on May 12 accused Air France of 'racial' profiling at Paris airport where they were stuck while in transit after their aircraft developed a technical problem, a charge denied by the airline.
The passengers said their plane had left Washington three hours behind schedule due to a technical problem and that they had barely 20 minutes in hand after arrival in Paris to take their connecting flight to Mumbai. They said they just could not make it to the connecting flight.
Another passenger Jagdish Patankar, who had to spent the night in the 'sanitised' area at the airport, said, "It shows total insensitivity towards the incidence. For six hours, we were in that area. We were provided with water, were not provided with juice or food or anything. We were all there just stranded."
The passengers said they were finally put on a flight to Mumbai after they protested.
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I once travelled from Delhi to London by Air India. On seeing an Indian passenger awkwardly trying to put a bag in the luggage holder, the airhostess rudely said that if he had any brains, he would understand that the bag wouldnt fit in the holder. Would she say such a thing to a non-Indian passenger?
boycott french airlines till they tell our media how they are going to remedy similar situations arising in future.No MORE AIR FRANCE FOR NOW.
It may have more to do with the fact that one does not need a VISA if you have a US passport for most european countries. If you truly felt that the treatment was bad, stop travelling on Air France! I observed a similar behavior with KLM and I will never fly KLM again.
Dr Paras Deo, bravo! No one has put it more rightly than you have here. 100% on the dot. Appreciate. Paris and Frankfurt are the nightmare locations for transit passengers bound for India. Always a mess up; and if it is Air India you are transferring to, the god be your saviour! You will be running from here to there to get the right info and above all, a very good chance that your baggage will go missing on arrival.
If this is the case why we can't take the multinational flights where Indians are in the crew like Emirates.... Boycott Air France
Air France is a horrible airline with disgusting racial practice againstAsians or coloured skinned people unless it is californian Golden Tan. Even with a British or American Passport you have to raise your voice or use non Indian English accent to frighten the hell out of Gauls(ghouls) and only that works. I called in a supervisor and took her name down which did the trick poor hapless timid Indian passport holders are usually grateful for a dried up sandwich. (incidentally Sonia and Rahul have Italian passports which they use whilst travelling in Europe , their home)
Th Paris airport is easily the worst airport I have transited through. The airport staff gave me wrong directions and I almost missed my connecting flight.
I had a similar experience with Air France in 2003. Since then I have stopped flying Air France. I have found that French are very proud of their culture and civilization, but they are the rudest bunch on the face of the earth. They refuse to speak any other language and help people who are their guest. This goes mostly for Parisians. Other part of France people are nice and good.I am also surprised at Arun Kumar's comment. Their might be a lot of fault in us, but that does not give the French any right to treat us badly. Seriously, I hate such people who have no dignity in front of foreigners. In fact by condoning what the french did, he is infact doing the same thing he is complaining about - treating the French as "special" and they deserve no blame. By pointing out what is wrong with us, does not make how the French treated us right. So don't confuse issues Mr. Kumar. My Advice: NEVER TRAVEL AIR FRANCE!!
The bes way to deal with discriminatory practices of a bussiness is to boycott its services and let it be known why you are doing it. Air France is way to smart to do what some people are accusing it of. I think there is lot more blatant "racism" among Indians on the basis of the skin tone. Look at your institutions especially the film industry where light skinned people are not only preferrentially treated but also glorifed in songs. Dark skinned people get only marginal roles.
dont fly ,thoes flights which way they treat ur Indians.and stopp to call them sahib,they are shit and looting people.proud to be an indian...jai hind
IT IS NOT FRENCH OR EUROPEAN FAULT.INDIANS EVEN AFTER 60 YRS INDEPENDENCE THINK WHITES ARE MASTERS AND BAHAVE LIKE SLAVES.FEW INDIANS THINKS THEY ARE FROM A GREAT COUNTRY AND EUROPEANS ARE SHIT.FIRST INDIAN SHOULD KNOW HOW TO DRESS WELL AND BAHAVE WELL.THIS IS YOUR OWN CREATION(PROBLEM) AND YOU HAVE TO CORRECT.ANY FOOL WHEN BOOK A AIR TICKET ASK THESE QUETIONS ABOUT TRANSIT AND ACCOMODATION.
REMEMBER WHEN EX-US PRESIDENT BUSH VISITED INDIA PM SINGH WAS THERE EVEN THOUGH THIS IS NOT A PROTOCOL ONLY PRESIDENT CAN WELCOME PRESIDENT(EVEN AFRICAN COUNTRIES FOLLOW THIS PROTOCOL)SO SO HOW CAN INDIANS EXPECT RESPECT FROM OTHERS.DO YOU THINK WHEN INDIAN PRESIDENT VISIT FRANCE FRENCH PM WILL BE ALSO THERE???? FIRST STOP BASHING WEST.CHANGE YOUR BEHAVIOUR.WHEN YOU ARE IN THE WEST DONT LOOK AT WHITE GIRLS IN SHORT DRESS AND SUPPOSE IF SHE SMILE DONT THINK SHE INVITE YOU TO HER BED.WHITE GIRLS ARE NO CHEAP AS INDIANS IMAGINE.SORRY I DONT KNOW ABOUT NAPELS(ITALY) GIRLS.
I don't understand why people travel by "Froggie" airline any way? Why not travel by Air India or British airways then you know that everyone is going to get the same rotten service.These froggies are well known for their bad behaviour towards Indians then why pay them foe such rudeness. In such cases transit visas should be given as a matter of routine and not make excuses.
Have you travelled by Air India?You will find many Indians who hates to travel on it.Why? Discrimination.I had a similar situation and it is only the passport which makes the difference.Further discrimination is rampant all around.
The very same thing happened to me when i was traveling from Manchester to Chennai via Paris with Air France. the staff are quite rude and inefficient. they told me i will have to sleep at the airport on the benches overnight since i am on a Indian passport and cannot get a transit visa . it is only after a lot of complaining and speaking to the supervisor they put me on an emirates flight via Dubai to Chennai. on arrival at Chennai airport, i was informed they forgot to transfer my luggage on to the emirates flight and so i got my luggage after 3 days, and to put the icing on the cake, on my way back to Manchester, i was informed they had canceled my return ticket by mistake. Fortunately i was at the airport early so i could persuade them to put me on the flight. But on the whole the entire experience was a nightmare from start to finish. Next time i would rather pay the extra £100 or £200 and travel with British Airways or Emirates.
Are Indians discriminated - "YES", even in so called friendly countries like Russia. Why - because the following is their perception of India - poor, filthy, snake charmers, etc. etc. Is their perception correct - "YES". Is it not true that a white skinned person is called "SAHEB" in India still? Look at our behaviour - and ask ourselves a question - are we disciplened? If one would travel across North India - your ears turn red every time on hearing the abuses hurled. It is not our color - but our behaviour which causes problems for us. Illegal migration to European countries through Central Asia, Russia, has closed the door for those who want to travel legitmately. Look at even our passport - 50% still written by hand - unreadable. Lastly do not forget "Kabooterbazi" of our distinguished MPs who run rackets. After this what we expect - A red carpet treatment?
In 2005, when returning to India from the USA, my family and I faced identical situation at Paris. A missed connection due to mismanagement by Air France, and we were stranded for 24 hours. Refusing visa, the French police was as rude as police can be. The airline and police cheerfully passed the buck. The Air France herded us into a tiny terminal where we were kept like prisoners. The regulation sandwich that they proudly advertise in their response was awful. Our six year old daughter spent 24 hours without a bed. To top it all, next morning baggage handlers stole a video camera from our bag, which the airline refused to investigate. Even by the sordid standards of western European airlines, Air France takes the cake. And when you have a racist police force join hands, you will be treated like sub-humans.
When visit our country THEY are treated like SO SPECIAL.
I really don't understand what the fuss is all about?Indian Citizens don't get VISA on arrival in France. Who is to blame? The Airlines? Are you kidding me? Blame the MEA which hasn't signed a VISA agreement yet with a lot of EU
My noble brothers from India, please do not forget all those insults committed by those smug Westerners and when the day comes, make them pay for it. When you become a super-power, rub all those century-long insults, sins, and offenses right back to their faces.
Comment by Traveller is silly. It is a fcat that in spite of catapulting into global economic scene Indians are not held in very high esteem especially when it comes to transit visa requirements for internationl travel. Immigartion authorities can come down like a ton of bricks on the hapless Indians stranded at airports in West Europe, US, Australia etc. I once got stranded in Singapore on a delayed Air India flight and though that country normally has tough regulaions on transit visa requirements for Indians, Air India could organise an emergency visa and the stranded passengers were put in a hotel for an overnight stay. I think at the end of the day it is the airline's responsibility to treat its passengers with dignity. It would not have been very difficult for Air France to arrange emergency transit visa in Paris. Indians should boycott Air France.
All indians should stop visiting france. That's the solution.
Crap Kay and Anonymous !!. AirFrance earns same amount of money from Indians and non Indians. Air France knows that Indian Passport holders have more difficulty with transit visa, so they must see that the Indians get visas or they get earlier flights out of Paris AND FOR THE PEOPLE WHO GET VISAS SHOULD BE MADE TO WAIT because they can get out of the airport. To 'Anonymous' who has problems revealing his real ID: Comparing Hilter's propaganda and mudering of the European Jews, Romas and Sintis to this incident is plain dumb. You would never get away with this sort of a comment in Germany. I am namely a German citizen. GET YOUR HISTORY RIGHT
Give me a break, go to any Indian visa office overseas - Indian consul workers even the front desk poen have such a discriminatory attitude they who to white and other colored people is so obvious.They will eagarly respond to white people by their mere presence but they will pretend not to see or get annoyed if they see colored people.
We Indian by nature blame others fault. As a Indian we often get the news atrocity on dalit, SC, Tribe and Muslim. No Indian boder that and accept as it is normal. Since An Indian can not treat other Indian equally how can we expect the same tratment from foreigner ? We don't need lecture but action.