DIE WELT (Germany)
As one of 34 countries with no diplomatic relations with Israel, the United Arab Emirates does not even allow Israeli citizens entry. But now the UAE's state-owned airline Etihad has taken a new route in denying recognition: erasing Israel from the world map, Germany's daily Die Welt reports
On the touchscreen maps for passengers on long-haul Etihad flights, all information about Israel is left out. Not just Tel Aviv, but even Jerusalem, also an important city for Muslims, gets no mention.
The UAE's state-owned carrier (J. Patrick Fischer)
The omissions are even more striking on the airline’s website map: Israel is an empty fleck on the world map on which all other countries are named. Etihad has so far not replied to Die Welt’s question as to whether or not this is an oversight.
Since 2011, Etihad has owned nearly 30% of Air Berlin, and is its largest partner. Asked by Die Welt about the Etihad map omissions and just how appropriate they were for an Air Berlin shareholder, the company maintained a cautious distance from the issue, pointing out that in principle it did not comment on what “other airlines” did, and notedthat Air Berlin flew up to 14 times a week from both Germany and Austria to Israel.
