Mandy Blumenthal asked to buy a return ticket from Heathrow to Bangkok at the Kuwait Airways counter at Heathrow Airport in November 2017.
Having confirmed availability, the airline refused to sell the ticket when she presented her Israeli passport. The incident was filmed, according to the website of UK Lawyers for Israel.
Mandy has now commenced a legal claim against Kuwait Airways Corporation (KAC) for discrimination on grounds of nationality in the provision of a service to the public, contrary to s.29 of the Equality Act 2010.
Following a complaint by The Lawfare Project (TLP), the U.S. Department of Transportation ordered KAC in 2015 to allow Israelis on its flights from the U.S. to London or risk termination of its U.S. operations. KAC responded by cancelling all of its flights from New York to London.
Following the initiation of a further action by TLP against KAC in Geneva, KAC halted all its intra-European routes. A further claim by TLP in Germany in respect of flights from Frankfurt to Bangkok via Kuwait was rejected by the Frankfurt court, but TLP has appealed.