Yesterday I shared the story from rt.com which suggested that Saudia would introduce gender segregated seating on their flights. On one hand it seemed a bit farfetched, on the other hand we’re talking about a country where women aren’t even allowed to drive, so it wouldn’t have really surprised me that much…
The rt.com article read in part as follows:
Saudi Arabia’s national airline carrier is planning to introduce gender segregation aboard its flights following complaints from passengers who refused to have random males seated next to their wives, the Kingdom’s media report.
Airline company Saudia will order its staff to keep men and women separated onboard, unless they are close relatives, the Emirates247 news website reported.
“There are solutions to this problem…we will soon enforce rules that will satisfy all passengers,” Saudia assistant manager for marketing Abdul Rahman Al Fahd said, according to Saudi daily Ajel.
Well, as it turns out the story was apparently fabricated, per the quoted assistant manager for marketing at Saudia. Via @ahfahad on Twitter:
Apparently the actual quote for changing seating arrangements was in regards to families being separated on flights. Lots of passengers travel with large families and don’t assign seats in advance, which ends up causing problems:
My apologies for passing along the apparently fabricated story. I am still quite curious to fly Saudia one of these days…
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