Saudi Airline Refused Passenger Wearing Shorts From Boarding, Until He Wore Sarong

A Saudi Arabian Airlines passenger was forbidden from flying from Jakarta, Indonesia, to Istanbul, Turkey, via a connecting flight to Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, because he was wearing shorts.

In the incident which took place Oct. 3, Jordan Bishop, a Forbes contributor and founder of corporate flights concierge Yore Oyster, said he was attempting to board his flight at 4 p.m. local time (5 a.m. EDT) when he was confronted by a flight staff and asked to step out of the queue.

According to Bishop, the agent at the gate gave him an “awkward look,” after which, the manager approached him and said, “Sir, I’m afraid we can’t allow you to board. You cannot fly with Saudia wearing shorts.”

The airlines does not specifically mention the kind of clothes their passengers can or cannot wear, except the following vague statement on their website: “SAUDIA is requesting from their guests to abide by a dress code whereby they are clothed in a manner that is inline with public taste or not offensive to other passengers.”

As a result, Bishop said he was puzzled by how he was treated.

“I was surprised to say the least. I'm no stranger to international travel, and my attire has never been remotely questioned in any of my past flying experiences. Still, it was very clear that this was no joke,” Bishop wrote in an op-ed on Forbes.

When asked by the manager whether he had a pair of trousers he could change into, Bishop said he did not as he was in Jakarta for a week and the temperature there was 90 degrees Fahrenheit every day. The airline staff informed him since they did not have a spare piece of clothing that Bishop can borrow some: “if you don’t have pants, I can’t allow you to board.”

Bishop said the airline staff did not make a fuss about the way he dressed till the very last moment, which, according to him was not right.

“There were plenty of appropriate times for them to make me aware of what lay ahead: as I purchased my ticket, in my ticket confirmation email, as I checked in at the airport, as I entered the Saudia lounge or during any of our other interactions along the way,” he wrote.

As the airline staff refused to budge on their decision, Bishop decided to take matters into his own hands to ensure he makes the flight.

“When it became clear that I had no other option but to find a pair of pants on my own, I ran down the length of the terminal until I found a travel kiosk selling sarongs,” Bishop said. “I bought the first one I saw, raced back to the gate and tied it around my waist like a full-length skirt.”

Although the flight staff exchanged awkward glances among themselves, they hesitantly let Bishop board the flight.

Bishop said he considered himself lucky as he had heard tales about passengers being left behind at the airport by the airlines due to inappropriate attires.

“With all this in mind, I’m actually one of the lucky ones; after all, I managed to finagle my way onto my flight. Yet I can’t help but wonder what it’s like to be one of those passengers left behind. Not every airport has a kiosk selling sarongs,” he concluded.