Russian woman with dual citizenship was not allowed to go home in Germany due to the wrong vaccine

The bone of contention was the controversial PCR test and the EpiVacCorona vaccination certificate, which is allegedly not quoted by the Germans. After the complaint, the airline said it would take a month to voice its position on the employee's initiative.

Yulia Suntsova

The incident took place at the Volgograd airport on July 18 this year. Olga K., a citizen of Russia and Germany, was supposed to fly from the regional capital in transit through Moscow to Munich.

At the place of registration in Germany, where she lived most of her life and had a second citizenship there for a long time, the woman was registered for an annual medical examination. Serious medical diagnoses require constant follow-up and follow-up treatment. In Russia, to her small homeland in Volgograd, she flew in for six months - to look after her elderly mother.

Olga prepared herself for the departure with all responsibility and fulfilled, it would seem, all transportation regulations in force in both countries, taking into account the situation with the epidemic.

- I passed a PCR test for coronavirus, the result is negative. In addition, she was vaccinated with EpiVacKorona (the first dose on April 30, the second on May 21), as evidenced by the vaccination certificate, certified and translated into English and the assigned QR code. Accordingly, with printouts of all these certificates and documents, with an itinerary receipt, with two passports, I arrive at Gumrak airport, receive a boarding pass at check-in, go through border control and go to a clean area. It was not the first time I flew in covid time and imagined where and what papers were required. I have complied with all the requirements for a flight from the Russian Federation to Germany and the subsequent entry into the territory of the Federal Republic of Germany, - says the interlocutor.

Before entering the gangway, the departing passengers were checked again by Aeroflot representatives. And here our passenger was very unlucky. Employee Andrey Yerokhin did not like that Olga's PCR test expires during the flight, 30 minutes before landing in Germany, and the EpiVacCorona vaccination, according to him, is not valid at all in Europe, and Pfizer vaccination is required to board the flight.

The employee laconically informed the passenger that she was not on this flight and canceled the boarding pass. Olga was surprised by the airline's "short stories". "This is the first time I come across a real shock therapy, in 30 years of flying with such a situation in Russia, with such an employee, because of whom the whole company loses face", - comments the victim.

- The test was performed on July 15 at 11:18 am, the test results were received on July 16 at 9:10 pm, that is, after crossing the German border, it would still be valid for 10 hours. Yerokhin rudely ignored my arguments. According to Russian law, on domestic flights, a PCR test for the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus is not required at all. In addition, I had the opportunity to take an express PCR test directly at the Sheremetyevo airport during the transfer, if Yerokhin had any doubts about this, he could have reported this possibility, but kept silent. As for the Pfizer vaccination - it is not certified on the territory of Russia, the airline employee, it turns out, generally gave advice bordering on the law, - says Olga.

According to the rules for entering Germany, adopted by the Ministry of the Interior of the Federal Republic of Germany and the Ministry of Health of the Federal Republic of Germany, arriving from the Russian Federation as countries with high incidence rates must have a negative PCR test obtained no later than 72 hours at the time of entry, or an antigen test, freshness no more than 48 hours. But (!) Pandemic restrictions on entry do not apply to citizens of the Federal Republic of Germany returning to the country, which was the case with Olga. Apparently, Andrei Yerokhin missed this nuance, and later he did not have the strength to apologize.

After being removed from the flight, the passenger contacted the representatives of PJSC Aeroflot at the Moscow Sheremetyevo airport. They apologized for the employee's actions and confirmed that his actions were unlawful. Employees of the airport in Volgograd helped the passenger to rebook her flight to Moscow on the next scheduled flight.

- Rebooking flights from Volgograd to Moscow and from Moscow to Munich - 3370 rubles. Repeated urgent PCR test at Sheremetyevo airport - 2,400 rubles. Forced overnight stay in Moscow + transfer from Sheremetyevo airport to the city and back via Yandex.Taxi - 3500 rubles. New ticket for the railway transfer in Munich - from the airport "Franz-Josef Strauss" to the bus station - 13.40 euros (1200 rubles). A new bus ticket from Munich to Friedrichshafen with FlixBus carrier - 16 euros (1476 rubles). Total: forced expenses in connection with the denied boarding - 11.946 rubles, plus the amount - for the moral damage caused, - Olga calculated the amount of losses incurred with German accuracy and reflected them in the complaint to Aeroflot.

In addition, due to the actions of an Aeroflot employee, an appointment for an examination at a medical clinic in Germany may be missed, which will entail additional costs, and a significant waiting time for a new appointment with specialized specialists and a postponement of treatment and emotional experiences in this regard can lead to negative health consequences, says Olga.

A day later, Olga reached Germany. But the sediment remained. She filed a complaint and expects from the airline to reimburse the additional costs and some kind of reaction to the incident.

- If an adequate answer from Aeroflot does not follow, I will go to court with a statement of claim, as well as a complaint to the Russian-German Chamber of Commerce and the German Embassy in Russia directly to Ambassador Geza Andreas von Gayer to protect my rights and legitimate interests, I would like, of course, that disciplinary measures were taken in relation to Yerokhin, commensurate with his inappropriate behavior and communication with clients and committed violations of a number of job descriptions, says Olga.

Aeroflot has so far informed the passenger with an interim response: the claim has been sent for consideration to the product quality management department of PJSC Aeroflot, they will try to answer as soon as possible, but it is possible that this will require the entire 30-day period allotted by the Air Code of the Russian Federation...

"Novye Izvestia" sent a request to PJSC "Aeroflot" with a request to indicate its position on the conflict between the employee and the passenger at the Volgograd airport. No response was received at the time of publication.