By PETER HUCK
The New Zealand Herald
Controversial British historian David Irving was last night stopped from boarding a Qantas flight to Auckland.
Airline staff at Los Angeles International Airport told Irving he would not be allowed to board the aircraft.
“I’ve been refused entry onto the flight,” he told reporters at the Qantas business-class desk.
“They say I have to go to the New Zealand Embassy, which, of course, is 3000 miles away in Washington DC. So I will not be allowed to board this flight.”
Possibly the only passenger at the airport wearing a pinstripe suit, Irving arrived at the Qantas desk at 7pm sharp, after broadcasting his intentions by email.
He was without luggage – other than two of his books, Hitler’s War and Churchill’s War, plus a small briefcase – having already concluded that he would be unable to board.
A short, burly man in a dark suit who said he was Irving’s “colleague” hovered around, taking pictures.
“He’s a prominent historian,” the man said. “Have you read his books?”
By now Irving had attracted five Qantas staff.
The theatrical atmosphere was heightened when Irving tore up a declaration that a Qantas official had politely refused to sign. The short statement said Irving had arrived at the Qantas desk with a valid electronic ticket booking and a valid British passport and his papers otherwise in order.
Irving was stopped after the Advanced Passenger Processing System alerted Qantas that he was unwelcome in New Zealand.
“As far as I’m concerned the legal battle begins,” he said.
“I’m not satisfied with this. This is an insult to me as an Englishman. It’s a scandal for New Zealand, too.”
He vowed to take the issue to court and said he was represented by Colin Amery, an Auckland immigration lawyer who went to school with Irving in Essex half a century ago.
Irving maintains that Prime Minister Helen Clark originally saw no reason he should not be let into New Zealand, but subsequently reversed her opinion.
As his practised air suggested, Irving is no stranger to such battles, having been refused entry to Germany, Australia and Canada.
His failure to board the Qantas flight comes as no surprise. Deputy Prime Minister Michael Cullen had said this week that Irving would be refused entry.
The man dubbed a Holocaust denier by a British judge compared his situation to that of someone deported from Nazi Germany and subsequently banned from New Zealand.
By: starjet - 18th September 2004 at 18:56
Use it when you need it :D!
By: Grey Area - 18th September 2004 at 14:43
To put it in Russian, he’s a yebena-mat.
Ooooo! That’s mat, that is. It’s rude! 😮
By: Ren Frew - 18th September 2004 at 14:25
If I said what I felt about that so-called historian, the moderators would ban me. To put it in Russian, he’s a yebena-mat.
Ooohh let me check the rules on Russian expletives? (lol) :p
By: starjet - 18th September 2004 at 14:19
If I said what I felt about that so-called historian, the moderators would ban me. To put it in Russian, he’s a yebena-mat.
By: Ren Frew - 18th September 2004 at 13:28
If there’s one thing worse than a fascist, it’s a fascist with a henchman. Not welcome in New Zealand? Quite right too, the dipstick. 😡
By: mongu - 18th September 2004 at 10:25
Nothing to do with Qantas. If they knew in advance that he would be refused entry to NZ, they would be liable to meet the costs for him to fly him back to LA. Plus maybe a fine. Therefore they would not allow him to fly.
Otherwise, I don’t think any airline would turn away business on the grounds of someone being a dodgy historian or a controversial person.
By: Vicbitter - 18th September 2004 at 08:36
Well done Qantas
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September 18, 2004 at 3:11 am