This is a story that has agitated social networks for several hours, especially on the side of anti-vaccines.
He says that Amélie de Montchalin, the Minister of Transformation and Public Service, was disembarked from a plane due to a lack of proof of vaccination against Covid-19.
In other words: she would not be vaccinated.
If it was prevented from taking off, the reality is however different.
What is said
Jacques Closterman is the first to evoke this story on his Twitter account, to which more than 19,000 people are subscribed this Thursday. Jacques Clostermann is a former captain of Air France. For at least several years, he has been campaigning with the extreme right. Excluded in 2017 from the National Front (now the National Assembly), he was a legislative candidate in the Bouches-du-Rhône for the Union des patriotes, the party launched at the time by Jean-Marie Le Pen, then in dissent with the FN.
"Stunned by this news, I inquire!"
He wrote first on Twitter.
And to continue: "It is nevertheless unthinkable that such a tile happened to Minister Amélie de Montchalin on the departure of flight AF 1342 yesterday bound for Geneva?
"In another message," since everyone insists ", Jacques Closterman lets go and targets the minister directly:" You were disembarked by the captain because you were unable to provide proof of a vaccination ... "
Well, since everyone insists…
Minister Amélie de Montchalin, do not say that yesterday at the departure of the flight to Geneva you were disembarked by the captain because you were unable to provide proof of a vaccination…
🤣🤣🤣
- Jacques CLOSTERMANN (@jaclostermann) December 23, 2021
Since its publication, Jacques Closterman's post has been shared over 6,000 times.
The facts, as recounted by Jacques Closterman, were shared and relayed by other accounts, propelling the name of the minister among the most discussed subjects on Twitter this Thursday.
What happened
Minister Amélie de Montchalin did try to take flight AF 1342 on Wednesday, connecting Paris-Charles de Gaulle airport to that of Geneva.
According to our information, the Minister was going on vacation to Haute-Savoie and the nearest airport is therefore that of Geneva.
As Jacques Closterman says, she was indeed unable to fly.
But contrary to what is said, it is not proof of vaccination that is missing, but proof of a negative Covid-19 test.
Swiss authorities require passengers to present a negative PCR test of less than 72 hours or an antigen test of less than 24 hours, even for people who have been vaccinated. Minister Amélie de Montchalin had neither when she arrived at the airport. According to his office, contacted by Le Parisien, the French embassy had told him that the health pass was sufficient "to embark insofar as she was only in transit in Switzerland". According to Liberation, who was able to consult the exchanges between the French embassy in Switzerland and the minister's office, it had been indicated that there was no need for a test.
Did Minister Amélie de Montchalin embark before being disembarked, as Jacques Closterman recounts?
We were unable to verify this information.
Air France refuses to comment on "the situation of individual passengers".
According to the minister's office, the minister decided to "let the flight she was supposed to take" and to do an antigen test and then board the next flight.
In summary :
Minister Amélie de Montchalin was prevented from taking a flight to Geneva on Wednesday.
If the minister had proof of vaccination against Covid-19, she had not taken a test to return to Switzerland.
We do not know if Amélie de Montchalin was actually disembarked from the plane, as Jacques Closterman asserts.
