Airline says passengers misheard pilot say ‘Palestine’

Spain’s Iberia Airlines says passengers misunderstood Spanish when they complained that a pilot said “Welcome to Palestine” upon landing in Tel Aviv.

The carrier initially apologized. But after an investigation, Iberia Airlines said that — in a typical muffled airline announcement — it was all a question of mistranslation.

“The word ‘Palestine’ was not used in the announcement,” the airline said in a statement.

“The captain adhered to the standard format, in which only the airports of origin and destination are named, and not countries, regions or territories,” Iberia said.

“Both the airline and the crew regret the misunderstanding, which could be caused by the similar sound of the Spanish word ‘destino’, meaning ‘destination, with ‘Palestina’.”

Israel’s embassy in Madrid earlier complained to Iberia, the Foreign Ministry told AFP, adding they condemned the incident.

— AFP