The European Free Alliance Youth is appalled by the behaviour of airline company Air Berlin in its recent response to the request of the Government of the Balearic Islands to also use Catalan in its operations.

While the request of the Government was based on a constructive approach, by offering airline companies with a base on the Balearic Islands help in providing information in Catalan to its customers, the Air Berlin CEO responded by publishing an article in the company's in-flight magazine that disparages the Catalan language and accuses the Government of wanting to divide up Europe in small states "just like in the Middle Ages".

The European Free Alliance Youth does not understand the reasoning by Air Berlin. Passengers expect quality service from the companies they fly with. Addressing customers in their native language is a good way of accommodating them. Simply rejecting the existence of their language on the other hand, is not. Air Berlin has through its behaviour not only hurt the feelings of the millions of Catalan speakers, but has foremost also hurt its own reputation as a company.

Hopefully, Air Berlin will see the error in their judgement and change its position after a meeting with the Government of the Balearic Islands. The European Free Alliance Youth meanwhile stands by its member organization Joves d'Esquerra Nacionalista in forcefully rejecting the statements made by the Air Berlin CEO and requesting an apology. Especially in this year of the intercultural dialogue, an airline company that brings people in Europe closer together should know that linguistic diversity is a strength and not something to mock about.