ETF Airways, a Croatian Charter airline, is preparing to take legal action against Bremen Airport (BRE).
The airline says the airport’s lackluster approach to security caused €1M worth of damages to its Boeing 737-800 aircraft, and the death of a rabbit.
The incident occurred in August 2, 2021, when an aircraft, registered as 9A-LAB, was landing at BRE. A rabbit was ingested into the left engine, damaging it beyond repair.
In a statement made on LinkedIn, the CEO Stjepan Bedic said: “It caused around a million euro damage to us, and now we are preparing for a lawsuit.”
Bedic claimed that, despite being chased by the airport security, he was able to document holes in the perimeter fence of Bremen Airport.
Bedic continued: “They tried intimidation as well, but they don’t understand: you can’t scare a team of people who spent a better part of their childhoods in bomb shelters.”
Reportedly, the aircraft, which is one of two owned by ATC Airways, was grounded for 12 days, and a new CFM56 engine for it had to be procured.
The statement, originally published on LinkedIn by Stjepan Bedic, has since been removed or made inaccessible.