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The Telegraph Air France asks passengers for whip-round to pay for fuel after emergency stop in Damascus
Passengers on an Air France flight were asked to "chip in" to pay cash for a refuel after their plane was forced to land in the violence-wracked Syrian capital Damascus, the company confirmed.
Photo: AP
By Henry Samuel, Paris
3:59PM BST 17 Aug 2012
The plane had been due to land in Beirut on Wednesday night but was diverted due to violent demonstrations near the airport of the Lebanese capital.
The captain first announced the plane would land in Amman in Jordan but due to lack of fuel he was forced to divert to Syria, where rebels are fighting to oust the dictatorial regime of President Bashar Assad.
Emergency permission was granted to land in Damascus, just 50 miles from Beirut.
Once on the ground, the crew told the 174 passengers they were unable to use the Air France company credit card to refuel the plane because of financial sanctions imposed on Syria by the West.
They then asked for a whip round among the mainly French and Lebanese travellers to pay for the thousands of litres of kerosene needed to reach Larnaca in Cyprus – the nearest safe airport.
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Lebanese passenger May Bsat told France Info: "The pilot asked first class passengers to give him cash, as apparently Damascus airport authorities had refused to give fuel to the plane. Everyone started rooting around for money and managed to raise 17,000 dollars (£11,000)." "But in the end the pilot took nothing, telling us that Air France had resolved the problem with the airport. Then they told us to take off our seat belts as there was a risk the plane could catch fire during refuelling and that we should run if told to." Another female passenger told Europe 1: "It was a horrible night. We spent two hours in Damascus with the plane blinds down. The captain told us: 'Don't take any videos or photos.'"
A 23-year-old engineer called Roland later said: "We could see through the window a lot of haggling going on because Air France's fuel account with Damascus had been cancelled after they stopped flying in March.
"Because of the terrible relations between France and Syria, a lot of the passengers were very worried about landing there."
An Air France spokesman later confirmed that the passengers had been asked for money after in landed in Damascus on Wednesday.
He added: "The crew at first offered to pay for the fuel in Damascus with a credit card but the transaction was impossible because of financial sanctions.
"As a precaution and in anticipation, the crew asked how much money the passengers had in cash to pay to fill up with fuel.
"However a solution was finally found to fill up the plane without borrowing cash from the passengers and the plane took off for Larnaca two hours later."
The plane finally landed in Beirut on Thursday afternoon, 20 hours after take-off from Paris on what should have been a three-hour flight.
French diplomats were furious with Air France's decision to land in Damascus given the animosity between France and President Assad. Yesterday French foreign minister Laurent Fabius said his regime must be "smashed fast".
