Ryanair asks passengers to test their general knowledge

The Irish airline Ryanair decided to apply tests of general knowledge about the country to some passengers and, who fails, does not board, says the local portal News24.

The portal says it spoke to a passenger who claimed to have been barred from a flight between London and Dublin for not doing well in the test. Only after taking the matter to a supervisor and showing other forms of identification was the passenger allowed to board the flight.

A Ryanair spokesperson confirmed that it applies the procedure for a “security profiling” that includes a “simple questionnaire” as an additional layer of security to guarantee the nationality of passengers.

The questionnaire includes questions such as what is the name of the president of South Africa, the country’s national flower and three official languages ​​spoken in the country.

“Due to the recent increase in passengers trying to travel on fraudulent South African passports, our agents may ask passengers traveling on a South African passport who are flagged during the security profile to complete a simple questionnaire such as a additional security, to confirm they are properly documented prior to travel,” Ryanair said in a statement.

“As language proficiency is the least intrusive security assessment method, this questionnaire is conducted in Afrikaans, one of the most prevalent official languages ​​in South Africa,” the statement continued. Afrikaans is one of 11 official languages ​​spoken in South Africa and less than 14% of the local population speaks it.

Some passengers told the portal that they requested the form in English but were rejected as they are expected to speak Afrikaans and not responding to questions due to language difficulties could be considered proof that their passport is fraudulent.

South Africa’s Department of International Affairs says it is working with UK officials to address the issue.