16:23 GMT, 17 August 2012
Passengers on an Air France flight were asked to 'chip in for fuel' after their plane was forced to
land in the strife-torn Syrian capital Damascus.
The jet from Paris had been heading to Beirut, Lebanon, when fighting broke out on the main road to
the airport on Wednesday night.
The captain first decided to divert to Amman in Jordan before realising he did not have enough fuel to
get there.
So he requested emergency permission to land in Syria, where rebels are battling to overturn President
Bashar Assad's tyrannical regime.
Once on the ground in Damascus, the crew told the 174 passengers they could not use the Air France
'company credit card' to refuel the plane because of financial sanctions imposed on Syria by the west.
<a href="http://s1267.photobucket.com/albums/jj559/365Wildfire/?action=view&current=rf5.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i1267.photobucket.com/albums/jj559/365Wildfire/rf5.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>
They then asked the mainly French and Lebanese travellers how much cash they were carrying to pay for
the thousands of litres of kerosene needed to reach Larnaca in Cyprus - the nearest safe airport.
A 23-year-old engineer called Roland tolkd France's AFP news agency later: 'We could see through the
window a lot of haggling going on because Air France's fuel account with Damascus had been cancelled
after they stopped flying in March.
An Air France spokesman later confirmed to AFP that the passengers had been asked for money after
in landed in Damascus on Wednesday.
He added: "The crew at first offered to pay for the fuel in Damascus with a credit card but the transaction
was impossible because of financial sanctions.
'As a precaution and in anticipation, the crew asked how much money the passengers had in cash to pay
to fill up with fuel.
'However a solution was finally found to fill up the plane without borrowing cash from the passengers
and the plane took off for Larnaca two hours later.'
The plane flew on to Beirut the following day, he said.
Passengers on an Air France flight were asked to 'chip in for fuel' after their plane was forced to
land in the strife-torn Syrian capital Damascus.
The jet from Paris had been heading to Beirut, Lebanon, when fighting broke out on the main road to
the airport on Wednesday night.
The captain first decided to divert to Amman in Jordan before realising he did not have enough fuel to
get there.
So he requested emergency permission to land in Syria, where rebels are battling to overturn President
Bashar Assad's tyrannical regime.
Once on the ground in Damascus, the crew told the 174 passengers they could not use the Air France
'company credit card' to refuel the plane because of financial sanctions imposed on Syria by the west.
<a href="http://s1267.photobucket.com/albums/jj559/365Wildfire/?action=view&current=rf5.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i1267.photobucket.com/albums/jj559/365Wildfire/rf5.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>
They then asked the mainly French and Lebanese travellers how much cash they were carrying to pay for
the thousands of litres of kerosene needed to reach Larnaca in Cyprus - the nearest safe airport.
A 23-year-old engineer called Roland tolkd France's AFP news agency later: 'We could see through the
window a lot of haggling going on because Air France's fuel account with Damascus had been cancelled
after they stopped flying in March.
An Air France spokesman later confirmed to AFP that the passengers had been asked for money after
in landed in Damascus on Wednesday.
He added: "The crew at first offered to pay for the fuel in Damascus with a credit card but the transaction
was impossible because of financial sanctions.
'As a precaution and in anticipation, the crew asked how much money the passengers had in cash to pay
to fill up with fuel.
'However a solution was finally found to fill up the plane without borrowing cash from the passengers
and the plane took off for Larnaca two hours later.'
The plane flew on to Beirut the following day, he said.
