Easyjet row
Easyjet row over a 12th of July celebration piece in their in flight magazine
Easy jet, the airline with the famously orange branding, has ditched a piece about the Orange Order's 12 of July celebrations because one customer, a nationalist blogger, complained about it. Their inflight magazine often tells travellers about events and festivals taking place in destination cities. But one of those features on Belfast listed the 12th of July and told travellers that "hundreds of colourful parades take place across NI on the 12 July bank holiday to commemorate the 1690 Battle of the Boyne". It then said this: "they're great to watch, just check ahead for travel disruptions and advice." Those appear to be the offending words that prompted a complaint from a local blogger who was reading the magazine. In a blog, he asked whether the airline would encourage tourists heading to Serbia to visit festivals which might "exacerbate ethnic cleansing".
Easy Jet have since apologised for including the 12th in their listings. They say they rely on locally-based writers to provide copy for the magazine, and that they will not be working again with the writer responsible for the Orange listing. And they promise not to publish details of the 12th again in their recommendations listings. William spoke to commentator Jude Collins and Dr David Hume from the Orange Order
Podcast
-
Talkback
Highlights from Talkback. Wiliam Crawley and guests discuss the news headlines