Language test before a Greek woman was allowed on an Aer Lingus Flight
Created Monday, 12th March 2012, 20:22 by Whykay
This was my first time hearing about this, a Greek woman, who has been living in Ireland since 1998 and has a husband and a child, was told to fill out a language test in both Greek and English before being allowed on the flight from Barcelona. You can also hear the Morning Ireland interview about this incident.
Has anyone encountered this at all? I haven't, a few years ago, a German immigration official nearly tore apart my Irish passport thinking that it's a fake, it's not the biometric ones. Oh yes, just because I look Chinese means I cannot have a "real" EU passport. This came up when I visited Australia and I was told to go to a counter with what I realised were non-whites and a buddhist monk. Hmmm, I was a bit irate as we were all kept waiting with no-one behind the counter at the time. When it came to me though, they probably thought it was funny that I was born in a city called Cork in Ireland. That was 5 years ago.
Since, I haven't had any issues. Hope I didn't jinx myself and ended up having to do a test as Gaeilge... that is if they have one!
Does Aer Lingus have this policy for other languages, I wonder?
Anyway, Aer Lingus has apologised for the distressed caused and offered an €200 travel voucher.