RYANAIR has had to issue an apology after a flight attendant announced that the Israeli city of Tel Aviv was in Palestine.
In a letter, the Irish airline’s chief executive Eddie Wilson told the Simone Wiesenthal Center, a Jewish human rights group, it had been an “innocent mistake”.
After complaints from some passengers, Mr Wilson said he had written to the Israeli ambassador in Ireland and stated that Israel remained “an important partner” for Ryanair.
The incident happened on the June 10 flight from Bologna to Tel Aviv, when a junior cabin crew member “innocently but inexplicably” said the plane would be landing in Palestine.
Mr Wilson said he was “100% satisfied that this was an innocent mistake with no political overtones or intent".
After the announcement, he said that some passengers “continued to be abusive” even though the crew had apologised.
Police eventually had to be called to meet the plane upon arrival.
Not recognising the Israeli state by referring to it as Palestine is seen as a highly provocative act by many Israelis.
Some Israeli commentators even called for a boycott on Ryanair unless an apology was issued.
With Ryanair acting as Israel’s second-largest airline, Mr Wilson insisted that Ryanair still viewed Israel as “an important partner”.
"We plan to invest in Israel to grow traffic and connectivity both for Israelis travelling to Europe and also to bring much-needed inbound tourism to Israel," he said.
The Simon Wiesenthal Center had said they had received multiple complaints about the incident, and that cabin crew had refused to issue a correction on board.
Rabbi Abraham Cooper, associate Dean of the Simone Wiesenthal Center, said: "How would Ryanair react if their flight attendant on a flight to Dublin announced multiple times that passengers would soon be arriving in the UK?
"Everyone is entitled to their opinions but not to alternative facts."
