After Indian batsman Shikhar Dhawan accused Emirates Airline of stopping his family from boarding the connecting flight from Dubai to South Africa, the airlines issued a statement, claiming that it acted according to the South African laws.
Although the Emirates Airline apologised for the inconvenience caused to Dhawan and family, it rejected the allegations made by the Indian batsman of "unprofessional" behaviour.
Earlier in the day, Indian opener Dhawan accused the Emirates Airline of "unprofessional" behaviour and alleged that the Airline stopped his family from boarding the connecting flight from Dubai en route Cape Town, where India is set to open their Test tour against South Africa.
The right-handed batsman took to Twitter and said that the airlines asked for some documents of his wife Aesha and children as identification proofs and added that the airlines did not inform them beforehand about it.
Irked Dhawan tweeted, "Absolutely unprofessional from @emirates. Was on my way 2 SA with my fam & was told tht my wife and kids can't board the flight from Dubai to SA. Was asked to produce birth certificates & other documents fr my kids at the airport which we obviously didn't have at that moment."
"They are now at Dubai airport waiting for the documents to arrive. Why didn't @emirates notify about such a situation when we were boarding the plane from Mumbai? One of the emirates' employee was being rude for no reason at all," he wrote in another tweet.
In response, Emirate Airline issued a statement and clarified, "Since 1 June 2015, according to South African regulations, anyone travelling to the country with a minor under 18 needs to prove parenthood or guardianship - while adults travelling alone with their children need to show that they have the consent of their non-travelling partner."
"Like all airlines, we must comply with the laws of every country in which we operate and this is a shared responsibility with passengers, who are required to hold valid travel documents for all countries on their itinerary," the statement further read.
India will play three Tests, six ODIs and three T20Is against the Proteas, with the first Test starting January 5.
(With ANI inputs)
