Air France admitted today it was forced to ask passengers to pay for fuel on a Beirut-bound flight that had to be diverted to Syria.
However, in the end it was able to pay to fill up at Damascus airport without passengers having to cough up.
In a statement released to CNN it said: "Air France confirms that it asked passengers if they had cash, as payments for fuel can only be made in cash in Damascus.
"Ultimately, Air France could pay the full amount itself, and passengers did not have to advance any cash"
The incident occurred on Wednesday on a flight from Paris to Beirut.
The plane was scheduled to divert to Jordan because of security concerns, but when it couldn’t get a flight path to Amman crew decided to land in Damascus.
It was during the two-hour stopover in the Syrian capital that passengers were asked for cash for fuel.
After Air France sorted out the payment, the flight continued to Cyprus and then onto Beirut yesterday.
"Air France apologizes to its customers for the inconvenience," the airline said.
