A couple who didn’t buy a ticket for their child left the infant at a check-in counter at Ben Gurion Airport and tried to board a plane out of the country, the Israel Airports Authority said Tuesday.
The parents, who both hold Belgian passports, had planned to take the child with them Ryanair Flight to Brussels but arrived late as the check-in counter was closed.
The couple then ran to safety, leaving the baby behind in the baby carrier.
Alerting the police and airport security, airport staff stopped the couple and ordered them to return and retrieve the child.
Channel 12 reported that the parents, along with the child, were taken in for questioning by police.
Ryanair staff at the airport said in a statement, “The staff were in shock. We’ve never seen anything like this. We couldn’t believe what we were seeing,” Channel 12 reported.
It was not clear whether the couple and the child eventually took off.
