Posted on November 29, 2014 by admin
BY APOLINARI TAIRO, ETN CORRESPONDENT, TANZANIA
Emirates Airlines blamed for death or obese passenger. Emirates Airlines in
Tanzania did not really stand up for its slogan to be the connector of
people. It had neglected an overweight man who died this weekend. Emirates
has been blamed by many for this tragic and unfortunate death.
eTN reached out to Emirates, but received no response.
Family members of the late Sande Jacob Mremi, a resident of Tanzanias
capital of Dar es Salaam, pointed a finger to Emirates Airlines for failing
to board him for treatment in India.
The 25 year old man was suffering from a weight of 250 kilograms, and every
airline approached in Tanzania so far were unable to allocate him a seat due
to his oversized body.
They told a leading Tanzanian television station, ITV, that their son has
been suffering from obesity and was referred to India for treatment, but
failed to get a seat through international airlines operating in Tanzania,
including Emirates to fly to India to undergo an urgently needed treatment.
Family members further accused Dubai based Emirates Airlines, which connects
Tanzania and the rest of the world via Dubai for failing to fulfil their
obligation regulated by contract and refused this passenger on a booked and
confirmed flight.
According to the Emirates Airlines managers in Dar es Salaam seats were too
small to make him fly safely and comfortably.
Emirates managers said it needed to uproot at least six seats to get a space
that would allow aircraft engineers to create a single, big-sized seat that
would be spacious enough to accommodate that obese man throughout his long
journey from Africa to India.
They said that the airlines Airbus long-haul aircraft was not equipped with
such, big seats that would help to accommodate the obese man.
The passenger paid the enormous amount of US dollars 13,800 to Emirates.
This should cover several tickets for such a flight. In a 2011 survey more
than 30 per cent of travellers in the UAE believe that airlines in the
region should charge overweight passengers more because of their size.
A poll carried out by Emirates 24|7 found that 32 per cent of people believe
airlines should charge a fat tax. However, the majority (63 per cent)
voted against this, saying such a move will amount to unfair discrimination.
In this case Emirates clearly charged the airfare many times over and did
not fulfil its obligation to provide the contracted transportation service.
It is a rare incident to find obese people in Tanzania.
Further reports stated that the family of the obese man had later approached
Star Alliance Member Ethiopian Airlines for the same purpose, and managers
had promised them to arrange a seat for the man. The man died before the
Addis Ababa based airline arranged a seat for him to fly this Sunday.
This is the first such reported incident in Tanzanias aviation industry and
received stakeholders attention.
Emirates newly launched flights to Tanzania had increased the total
passenger and cargo capacity by 2,370 seats and up to 170 tons respectively
with flights available every Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Saturday and
Sunday.
Thé Mulindwas Communication Group
"With Yoweri Museveni, Ssabassajja and Dr. Kiiza Besigye, Uganda is in
anarchy"
Kuungana Mulindwa Mawasiliano Kikundi
"Pamoja na Yoweri Museveni, Ssabassajja na Dk. Kiiza Besigye, Uganda ni
katika machafuko"
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