The Spanish team traveled to Barcelona Airport on Sunday and boarded the THY plane awaiting them there, but the Spanish Civil Aviation Authority refused the THY flight permission to fly directly to Abu Dhabi despite THY having submitted all the necessary application paperwork. Following a delay of roughly 30 minutes, the THY’s “Anadolu” Boeing 777 aircraft had to land in İstanbul before continuing to Abu Dhabi after waiting an hour there as well, as Spanish aviation authorities refused permission for a direct flight.THY press representative Ali Genç commented on the situation: “We wanted to take the team directly from Barcelona to Abu Dhabi; we had applied for the necessary permissions from Spanish civil aviation authorities. Because it was a charter flight, we should have been given permission, but they didn’t.” Genç also said there was behind-the-scenes pressure at play, with Spanish carriers threatening to take legal action against the aviation authorities if THY was given permission to fly directly to Abu Dhabi.
Team Barcelona President Juan Laporta said they had met with Spanish President Jose Luis Zapatero regarding the issue but that no efforts to resolve the situation had been made. Juan Oliver, the head of Barcelona’s marketing, accused Spanish airlines of boycotting the Spanish team in order to prevent a Turkish carrier from transporting the team and criticized the Spanish government for not doing anything to prevent the situation.
Meanwhile, Spanish Airway Companies Association President Felipe Navio released a statement on the subject, saying the civil aviation authority had done its duty in implementing international law. “The rule is very clear: Non-EU carriers flying to a location outside the EU must make a technical landing in the company’s country of origin.”
