Usually, air carriers are loyal to tourists and allow many types of products to be carried on board – in hand luggage and the luggage compartment. However, there is one fruit that is prohibited for carriage on almost all airlines. This is a durian. This was reminded to tourists by the British newspaper The Sun.
Durian is quite popular in some Asian cuisines, but its smell is very pungent, which led to a ban. For example, China Southern Airlines even officially listed it as a banned product.
And here is another example. Air New Zealand, the largest airline in New Zealand, noted the following: “Durian fruits cannot be transported either in hand luggage or in checked baggage.”
An exception is the Philippine low-cost airline Cebu Pacific, which says it will allow passengers to bring fruit on board, as long as it is stored in the hold and not in the cabin.
“Smelling or foul-smelling fruit (such as durian) will only be accepted as checked baggage,” the airline’s website says. Other companies also allow specific fruit on board, but on condition that it is sealed.
Durian has caused problems for airlines before, and its smell has repeatedly caused delays and flight disruptions.
So, angry passengers on board an Indonesian plane carrying fruit almost got into a fight with flight attendants because of the stench, demanding that the fruit be removed from the plane. Then Sriwijaya Air, flying from Jakarta to Bengkulu, had about two tons of durian on board.
The airline eventually made concessions and unloaded a batch of durian. The flight ended up taking off an hour later than scheduled.
“When I got on the plane I could already smell the durian. I complained to the flight attendant but they told me to fill out a complaint form. “Not us!” Amir Zidane, a passenger on the flight, recalled on his page on social networks.
Later, Sriwijaya Air still defended its decision to carry stinky fruits on board.
However, in the confined space of an airliner, passengers often experience an aversion to specific aromas. Not too long ago, a passenger was subjected to passive-aggressive comments after eating a burger he bought at the airport, Tourprom says. He posted his story on the Reddit forum to find out if he was right when he decided to eat it in the cabin of the aircraft.
“Right now, the woman sitting next to me is looking at me with ‘daggers’, making passive-aggressive comments under her breath. I have an eight-hour flight with a short layover. On the first flight, only a small package of crackers was served, and on the second it will be the same. Once I got to the docking gate, I had enough time to order food but not eat it.
The woman sitting next to me told me that she doesn’t eat meat or fried foods and that the smell of my burger and fries makes her sick. At first, I ignored her and continued to eat, but she complained louder and louder,” the traveler posted.
Someone in the comments sided with the hungry tourist. “This is an airplane, not this woman’s private living room. I can’t believe how rude some people on airplanes are,” he was told.