Overview
- The incident occurred on January 14 on flight AF562 at Paris–Charles de Gaulle, where the aircraft commander ordered disembarkation and French police removed four passengers.
- Ivan Lopes says his family purchased four upgrades in Milan for €399 each, were told seat 7L was defective at the Paris gate, then found 7L occupied on board and claim the fault was actually at 5L.
- Air France states a Business-class seat was inoperative, the upgrade for one traveler could not be honored, and that seat was assigned to a customer with a prior confirmed Business ticket.
- The airline says ground staff offered to seat the group together in Premium Economy, the passengers refused, and their “extremely exalted” behavior prompted removal to protect safety and the flight’s operation.
- The family reports no meals or lodging after removal, bought new tickets for the next day, estimate losses of about €16,000, and say baggage release took roughly two hours, while no independent verification of the seat issue has been reported.