German Airline Apologises After More Than 100 Jewish Passengers Denied Boarding at Frankfurt Airport

A large number of Jewish passengers were travelling to Hungary for a religious pilgrimage at the time.

German airline Lufthansa has apologised after more than 100 Jewish passengers were prevented from boarding a connecting flight at a Frankfurt airport earlier in May because some of them allegedly did not follow mask rules and other instructions of the crew duirng the previous flight.

The passengers were on their way from New York to Budapest for a religious pilgrimage on 4 May. When they were reportedly preparing to board a connecting flight at a Frankfurt airport, it was announced that their boarding passes had been cancelled.

During the announcement, an employee said: "You know why it was", while the passengers can be heard yelling back: "No, we don't", according to a video shared on social media.

Some of the passengers were reportedly outraged for also being banned from boarding the connecting flight, although they were not associated with the passengers who had allegedly violated mask rules on the way from New York.

Lufthansa has issued a statement of apology, saying that it regrets "the circumstances surrounding the decision to exclude the affected passengers from the flight" and adding that they "have zero tolerance for racism, anti-Semitism and discrimination of any type".