Courtesy: Press Trust Of India

Mumbai, May 12, 2009

First Published: 11:34 IST(12/5/2009), Last Updated: 14:04 IST(12/5/2009)

Over 50 Indian passengers flying Air France had a “harrowing” time at Paris airport after their aircraft developed a technical problem and complained on Tuesday on reaching Mumbai that they were victims of “racial” profiling.

The passengers, who spent 28 hours in Paris, said they were confined to a lounge at the airport there from 10 pm on Sunday till 7 am the next morning and given “hardly any food and water”.

The passengers, on their way to Mumbai from the US via Paris, said while the foreigners were taken to hotels shortly after their plane returned to the Paris airport due to apparent technical problem following a four-hour flight, they were taken to the lounge and given just a bottle of water and a sandwich.

Giving details of their “harrowing” time, one of the travellers, Vineeta Sengupta said, “No foreigner would have been treated like the way we were treated. People were lying down on the floor over there (at a place at the airport) where immigration takes place”.

Accusing Air France of “racial” profiling, a girl passenger said that the officials there even had threatened that they would be handed over to the police if they did not stop protesting.

Sengupta said the 53 to 54 Indian passengers were later “huddled out” of the airport on a “group visa”, which the authorities could have provided much earlier, and taken to a hotel.

No reason has officially been given for the delay.

Indian passengers flying Air France allege racial bias

Mumbai, INDIA:Over 50 Indian passengers flying Air France had a “harrowing” time at Paris airport after their aircraft developed a technical problem and complained on Tuesday on reaching here that they were victims of “racial” profiling.

The passengers, who spent 28 hours in Paris, said they were confined to a lounge at the airport there from 10 pm on Sunday till 7 am the next morning and given “hardly any food and water”.

The passengers, on their way to Mumbai from the US via Paris, said while the other Nationals were taken to hotels shortly after their plane returned to the Paris airport due to apparent technical problem following a four-hour flight, Indians were taken to the lounge and given just a bottle of water and a sandwich.

Giving details of their “harrowing” time, one of the travellers, Vineeta Sengupta said, “No foreigner would have been treated like the way Indians were treated. People were lying down on the floor over there (at a place at the airport) where immigration takes place”.

Accusing Air France of “racial” profiling, a girl passenger said that the officials there even had threatened that they would be handed over to the police if they did not stop protesting.

Sengupta said the 53 to 54 Indian passengers were later “huddled out” of the airport on a “group visa”, which the authorities could have provided much earlier, and taken to a hotel.

No reason has officially been given for the delay.

Owl on jetway

Trip to Muenster, Germany September 19 to 29, 2008.

Interesting sight on jetway in Norfolk. Owl statue. Used to scare off marauder seagulls, I guess. They should make him/her move occasionally

Seat at back of airplane next to engine

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Waiting to board for flight to Atlanta, then to Paris with transfer to Muenster.

Flight to Atlanta. Not that wonderful. We sat at the back of the airplane (longer to walk down the aisle knocking carryon baggage against seats and other people).

large person

Large person (fat guy) overflowing seat next to Gerald. He had to keep his arms folded the whole trip (1.15 hrs).

Over Maine

Night time on the airplane

CdG airport in Paris

Charles deGaulle airport in Paris very early in the AM. Beware of Terminal E at this airport !!!! It is about two miles away from the main airport. Terminal E is a taxi or bus, but no tram, ride away. This transfer will take 20 to 45 minutes. Almost missed the last leg of the trip; they waited on us. (We had the tram driver call the gate) Amazingly the luggage made it!

Muenster is an interesting town with about 1100 years of history.

Hilton arrived surrounded by bodyguards photographers and fans who had waited for hours at the Paris Hilton stand where she signed handbags from her latest line and posed for photos with look alikes wearing matching Paris Hilton
www.wwd.com

L’exposition “27 graphistes pour l’Europe” donne le coup d’envoi de la saison culturelle européenne. Alors que la France prend les rênes de la présidence européenne, elle veut aussi marquer de son empreinte le domaine culturel par une série de manifestations d’envergure qui se dérouleront jusqu’au 31 décembre 2008.

Avec le consentement du ministère de la Culture et du commissaire de l’exposition Philippe Apeloig, Aéroports de Paris devient le théâtre du premier grand évènement de la saison culturelle européenne, une exposition placée sous le thème de la marche. Sur des panneaux géants, sont présentées 27 affiches de 27 graphistes issus de chaque pays membre.

Philippe Apeloig a sélectionné les artistes auxquels il a commandé les œuvres. Les graphistes viennent de Chypre, d’Irlande, du Royaume-Uni, du Luxembourg, de France ou encore de la République Tchèque. Selon lui ” La marche motive la curiosité, permet d’avancer à petits pas, simple et complexe, elle est la métaphore de la vie et du progrès.

Une exposition exceptionnelle montrant la singularité et la force du graphisme européen.

Commissaire de cette exposition, Philippe Apeloig, graphiste de renommée internationale ayant travaillé avec de nombreuses et prestigieuses institutions culturelles à travers le monde, a sélectionné 27 graphistes, un par pays, auquel il a commandé la création d’une oeuvre graphique célébrant l’Europe autour du thème de la marche. Ces affiches seront exposées dans les Aéroports de Paris sous la forme de panneaux géants.

Les 27 graphistes :

Tino Grass (Allemagne)
Roman Breier (Autriche)
Teresa Sdralevich (Belgique)
Luba Lukova (Bulgarie)
Evripides Zantides (Chypre)
Finn Nygaard (Danemark)
Pilar Gorriz (Espagne)
Ruth Huimerind (Estonie)
Hilppa Hyrkäs (Finlande)
Elamine Maecha (France)
Dimitris Karaiskos (Grèce)
Arpad Daradics (Hongrie)
Noelle Cooper (Irlande)
Lucia Pasqualin (Italie)
Ilmars Blumbergs (Lettonie)
Gediminas Šiaulys (Lituanie)
Marco Godinho (Luxembourg)
Pierre Portelli (Malte)
Edwin Vollebergh (Pays-Bas)
Elzbieta Chojna (Pologne)
Lizá Ramalho/Artur Rebelo (Portugal)
Filip Blažek (République tchèque)
Lucian Marin (Roumanie)
Joana Niemeyer ( Royaume Uni)
Marcel Bencik (Slovaquie)
Radovan Jenko (Slovénie)
Nille Svensson (Suède)

The layover in Paris Charles de Gaulle International Airport was what I expected. It is the worst airport I have been in ever. There are more Satellite Terminals than 10 airports here in the states. Plan on being there at least 3 hours prior to your flight leaving, because you have to ride a bus for 45 minutes before even getting to the right terminal. The other problem was that there was no one around that worked for the airport to answer any questions.