Uzbekistan’s Centrum Air Apologizes After Uzbek-Language Dispute

Uzbekistan's Centrum Air has apologized to a passenger removed from a flight after a dispute over his request to be addressed in Uzbek. The airline initially accused the man of aggressive behavior but later acknowledged that the flight attendant had been at fault. The incident occurred on October 5 during boarding for flight C6468 from Samara to Tashkent. Daryo reported that a passenger named Komiljon had asked a flight attendant to speak to him in Uzbek after she requested his boarding pass in Russian. According to Komiljon, an argument followed, and the captain refused to allow him to travel. In an October 5 statement, Centrum Air disputed his account, alleging that he had behaved aggressively and insulted the flight attendant. It said he had disrupted boarding and defended the captain's decision on safety grounds. The airline also said it was considering contacting law enforcement. Komiljon denied insulting the employee. Centrum Air said its flight attendants speak Uzbek, Russian, and English and can communicate with passengers in their preferred language. Komiljon traveled from Samara to Moscow before taking another flight to Tashkent, incurring additional expenses. Following a review, senior airline executive Ma'murjon Mamadaliyev acknowledged that the flight attendant had been wrong and had admitted her mistake. He said the airline would cover the passenger's additional travel costs. In a later video, the flight attendant apologized to Komiljon in Uzbek, according to Batafsil.uz. Komiljon accepted the apology and said that he had received compensation. The airline's later statement did not clarify whether it had withdrawn its original allegations about the passenger's behavior.