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Elderly Ryanair passenger at centre of racist abuse storm says 'she has not been contacted' by the airline

The video has been viewed more than 4.5 million times on Facebook

Cathy Adams
Monday 22 October 2018 12:35 BST
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Man racially attacks elderly black woman on Ryanair flight

A passenger who was the subject of a racist tirade on a Ryanair flight from Barcelona to Stansted has said she has not been contacted by the airline.

Footage recorded by fellow passenger David Lawrence shows the man calling the woman in her 70s, known as Mrs Gayle, an “ugly black bastard” and telling her “Don’t talk to me in a f****** foreign language you stupid ugly cow.”

Cabin crew appear to take no action against the man in the video, which has been viewed more than 4.5 million times on Facebook.

The family of Mrs Gayle told HuffPost UK that they are “surprised, disgusted and hurt” that they have not heard from Ryanair since the incident happened on flight FR015 on Friday.

Ryanair has just made a short statement so far, tweeting on Sunday: “We are aware of this video and have reported this matter to Essex Police.”

Transport minister Chris Grayling said on Radio 4 Today this morning that racial abuse of this kind “is a crime” and “should be dealt with appropriately”. He called the incident an “extraordinarily unacceptable” one.

But the man, who has not been identified, might “get away with it”, according to Karl Turner, a shadow transport minister.

The video has drawn widespread criticism, with many threatening to boycott the airline.

Commentators have taken to Twitter to denounce the incident.

The Independent has asked Ryanair for comment.

Separately, profits at the budget airline slumped 7 per cent to €1.2bn (£1.057bn), following a summer of strikes and other disruption, according to half-year results released this morning.

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