On June 21, a representative from Pledis Entertainment spoke up on behalf of their label artist Seventeen, in response to allegations that the idol group caused a flight to be delayed by approximately ah hour.
The Pledis rep stated, "[Seventeen] arrived on time and checked in securely, but there were document issues on the airport's side, and so they held up the members. The flight was already expected to be delayed around 30 minutes due to weather conditions, but it's true that the flight was delayed slightly further due to Seventeen's document errors. While we did not intend for such an accident to happen, we apologize for the fact that the flight was delayed due to an issue involving our side."
Earlier, netizens who were on the same flight as Seventeen from Okinawa, Japan to Incheon, South Korea complained that their flight was delayed due to guests who were unable to board on time. The guests turned out to be Seventeen, causing suspicions of special treatment toward celebrities.
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Clarification from the airline:
Some of the Seventeen members have expired performance visas. Some of them had a visa period left. In response, Seventeen asked Asiana whether they would fill out the re-entry document. Asiana said it was not necessary to fill out the documents. Believing the airline employee's words, Seventeen went through the
formalities. However, airport staff grabbed them, saying, "They have to fill out the documents for re-entry."
After filling out the documents, the staff checked several times to if they was certain that, would never come to Japan again, even though the members have a visa left to perform. As a result, the time became late. Industry watchers said "it sometimes took more than eight hours, about 30 minutes to an hour would be enough to get released quickly", "those caught once would continue to get caught", "they are particularly sensitive to Korean singers' performance visas." Asiana Airlines also explained that it was not a "celebrity favor" regarding the late departure. It was because the members of Seventeen were aware of the delay in boarding due to paper-related problems. "We waited because they had completed the baggage procedure normally and knew that they were late due to the airport's demands," an official from Asiana said on Monday. "Even if other regular passengers were in the same situation (we would wait) , there was no special preferential policy toward celebrities." SEVENTEEN arrived at around 12:20 p.m., an hour before departing from Naha Airport in Okinawa, to board Flight OZ171 scheduled to depart at 1:20 p.m. Under Asiana Airlines regulations, the corresponding flight will open the counter two hours before departure, ending boarding 50 minutes before departure. Whether you come two hours before or an hour before the start, it doesn't matter if you arrive only 50 minutes before the start. Also, the netizen was furious with SEVENTEEN, saying the members, who appeared with their faces covered with hats and masks, sat in the
business seat without a word of apology. The apology should be made by Asiana Airlines, which did not expect such a situation, not by Seventeen. Also, it has already been delayed by 30 minutes due to bad weather, and arrived in Incheon 45 minutes later than scheduled. The extra delay time except for the bad weather is 15 minutes, and driving as if an hour had been delayed because of Seventeen is tantamount to an error in hasty generalization. This is the moment when the word "reversus" comes to mind, given that he has made every mistake for being an entertainer. Meanwhile, the Pledis side bowed its head despite the unintended controversy. "We apologize again to all those who have suffered damage, even though it was unintentional," Pledis said. "We apologize to all passengers who have experienced inconvenience regardless of the reason, and we will take care to prevent the same problem from happening again."
Credit/Trans: _Banirose_