Sir, - In the light of recent cases regarding incidents of so-called air-rage, I had an unfortunate and unusual experience on a recent flight home from a holiday in Croatia. The majority of the passengers on the chartered flight were pilgrims en route to Medjugorje but there were a significant number of other passengers (non-pilgrims of varying ethnic backgrounds) also aboard the flight. Throughout the three-hour flight, the non-pilgrim passengers were subjected to numerous decades of the rosary, novenas and religious hymns recited loudly by the majority of the pilgrims. No effort was made by any crew member to halt this blatant disturbance.
Are disruptive passengers only deemed disruptive when their chants are of a non-religious nature? Surely this smacks of double standards for the airline industry as they attempt to impose laws for "appropriate" passenger behaviour?
This disgraceful incident was all the more poignant given that the flight departed from a region of the world that has been torn asunder by religious bigotry. - Yours, etc.,
Emma Richardson, Howth, Co Dublin.