Ryanair CEO Michael O’Leary said his airline has dropped the controversial questionnaire for South African passengers requiring them to answer questions in Afrikaans.
Ryanair’s decision to quiz South African passport holders in Afrikaans before they boarded the plane was heavily criticised in South Africa.
The airline said it introduced the questionnaire in response to the high prevalence of fraudulent South African passports.
The move led to Ryanair being accused of racial discrimination.
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Afrikaans is spoken by less than 15% of South Africa’s population and is the country’s third-most spoken language after Zulu and Xhosa.
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“We didn’t think it was appropriate either,” said O’Leary. “So, we have ended the Afrikaans test, because it doesn’t make any sense.”
South Africa’s Department of Home Affairs had criticised the test, calling it a “backward profiling system”.
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The airline’s quiz contained 15 questions, such as the name of South Africa’s biggest city and the current president.
Other questions included:
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