Indonesia’s national airline Garuda reportedly banned passengers and in-flight crew from taking photos and videos in-flight. This decision was reversed earlier in the week, following public backlash. This came after a video blogger posted an image of a handwritten menu he was given while in business class.
Travel v-logger Rius Vernandes was flying from Sydney to Denpasar when he took the photo he posted. It came with the caption “The menu is still being printed sir”. The photo went viral, and the airline was mocked as a result. Garuda though said that it was meant to be a notice to flight attendants, and was never meant for passengers.
Following this was the reported ban on in-flight photos and videos. Garuda said that it was an internal directive that was “not yet finalised, and should not have been shared to the public”. It has since been revised, clarifying pictures can still be taken, as long as they don’t disturb other passengers.
Unfortunately for Vernandes, he and his fiance has since been reported to the Indonesian police for alleged defamation. The report was made several airline employees who felt that the blogger was “causing a negative perception…towards the country’s national flag carrier” by posting the photo.
(Source: The Guardian, Reuters)
