London: A British airline has banned its crew from taking the Bible into Saudi Arabia for fear of upsetting Muslims.
BMI bosses have told staff to take the Quran instead, and this without any intimation to this effect from Riyadh.
As expected, things have not gone down too well with the staff. One middle-aged stewardess is planning to sue BMI for religious discrimination at an industrial tribunal due to take place in the New Year.
In the meantime, BMI has decided to exclude her from flights to Saudi Arabia.
A BMI source said, “Foreign Office advice is that non-Islamic religious material is not permitted in Saudi”.
“We understand our embassy has confirmed that the Saudis never enforce this rule,” another BMI worker added.
“The stewardess is deeply religious and takes her Bible everywhere she travels. The bottom line is BMI don’t want to jeopardise the Saudi route, which is worth millions to them,” The Sun quoted the worker as saying.
Interestingly, the ban follows British Airways’s climbdown on a rule prohibiting staff wearing crosses — which triggered mass protest.
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