Vueling explains that the group of Jewish teenagers removed from a flight tampered with life jackets and oxygen masks.

Vueling confirmed this Friday that the passengers removed from a Valencia-Paris flight last Wednesday tampered with life jackets and oxygen masks , causing "a high risk to the aircraft, passengers, and crew." The airline clarified this Friday that the passengers were removed " solely for safety reasons ," denying any other motivation following the controversy that arose after they were identified as Jewish.

The young men attempted to remove the high-pressure oxygen cylinder, disrupted the onboard safety demonstration, and repeatedly disobeyed the crew's instructions , as confirmed by the airline. Vueling maintains that this behavior and confrontation violated Article 41 of the Air Safety Act, which establishes the obligation of passengers to comply with safety regulations and follow crew instructions to maintain order and operational safety.

The airline has emphasized that its crews have an obligation to intervene in any situation that could compromise the safety of passengers and staff. Before takeoff, the cabin crew was alerted that the young men were tampering with safety equipment, despite " increasingly strong warnings from the crew, who made clear the potential consequences."

Given the persistent behavior, the crew requested assistance from the cockpit . The first officer intervened, speaking with the young people and the responsible adults. However, since "the behavior persisted," safety protocols were activated. This included calling the Civil Guard , who ultimately disembarked the group "to safeguard the safety of the rest of the passengers."

Accusations of anti-Semitism

The incident quickly spread beyond Spain's borders, sparking outrage in the Israeli media, which did not hesitate to call Vueling "anti-Semitic." For its part, the airline has flatly denied these accusations, stating in its statement: "We deny any claim linking our crew's decision to the religious expression of the passengers involved, which we absolutely respect ."

The controversy has escalated further with the intervention of Israel's Minister of Diaspora and Combating Antisemitism, Amichai Chikli. Through his account on the X platform (formerly known as Twitter ), Chikli expressed his strong protest: "In line with Hamas's campaign of lies, repeated by Al Jazeera, Haaretz and others, we are witnessing numerous serious antisemitic incidents recently; this is one of the most serious," he said, accompanying his message with a video of the arrest of the group's monitor.