On February 18, 2024, a woman reported discriminatory treatment against her in Duty Free at Rome Fiumicino Airport. The story was revealed in a series of videos posted on Instagram, in which the woman explains that store employees refused to sell her a bottle of water simply because she was a Russian citizen. Asking for explanations, an employee reportedly declared that nothing could be sold to her according to a mysterious regulation from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. A regulation that does not exist in Italy to date. Another crazy excuse, allegedly made by one of the employees, is that this measure was initiated following the Russian invasion of Ukraine. The social complaint aroused the indignation of users, who turned against the company Aeroporti di Roma SpA (AdR) then against Aelia Duty Free, the company responsible for the restaurant located in Fiumicino. Based on information collected by OpenIt appears that this episode is not false or implausible news.
Her name is Anna Larina and she has been a Russian teacher and translator for at least ten years in Italy. Site owner Lezionidirusso.it, has been operating in Italy with a regular VAT number since 2013. Larina had every right to purchase the products within the framework of Duty Free, especially since she was leaving for a foreign country. We learned about it from his Telegram channel, where on February 18 at 8:13 p.m. – after a video and some audio where he recounts his misadventure – he published a greeting message to his subscribers warning that “the plane is about to take off “. A useful clarification to dispel some initial doubts which could have led us to believe that she had just landed in Fiumicino and was trying to make purchases in Duty Free at reduced prices. Larina apparently went to the law enforcement office outside the gates, which initially suggested she may have just returned to Italy. In her account, she claims to have quickly returned to catch her flight, going through security checks again with the help of an airport employee. A reconstruction which, as reported Open according to a source in Fiumicino, this seems feasible.
Apologies from AdR and Aelia Duty Free
Faced with the scandal and social protests, through its official Instagram account, the Aeroporti di Roma company commented on Larina's video complaint with the following message:
Dear Anna, we are dismayed and regret what happened to you during your stay at Fiumicino Airport. The behavior described absolutely does not comply with the standards applied by Aeroporti di Roma's business partners.
To the extent necessary, we of course confirm that there are no rules prohibiting the sale of food or goods of any kind to persons with citizenship of certain countries.
In this regard, we would like to inform you that we have immediately forwarded your report to the manager of the duty-free you reported, who has immediately initiated the necessary checks and will take appropriate disciplinary action within the next few hours.
We assure you that respect for people, rules and courtesy towards passengers are obligatory for ADR, as for its operational partners at the airport.
Of course similar episodes will not be repeated, we thank you for sharing your experience with us and look forward to seeing you again on your next trip.
The social profile of Aelia Duty Free also intervened:
Hello Anna, we sincerely apologize for what happened yesterday in our store at Rome Fiumicino Airport. This is an isolated incident and we are carrying out all necessary checks to take internal measures to ensure that similar incidents do not occur again. Respect for people has always been a cornerstone of our group in which we invest daily. Thanks for sharing what happened. We will do our best to work harder where we went wrong, so that everyone can have positive experiences in our stores. We hope that all your future experiences in our stores will be positive.
Larina's criticisms of AdR and Aelia's messages
Larina, taking note of the comments of both companies, comments on her Telegram channel as follows:
Too bad they didn't ask me for details to do the “checks”))))
Who should they talk to? Who is responsible for disciplinary measures?))). How will they identify the person who spoke to me?
On February 20, Larina published a video on her YouTube channel in which she tells about what happened with the news obtained after arriving in Russia.
The “final” response from Aelia Duty Free
For the moment, the last word seems to be that of the company Aelia Duty Free, owner of the management of the place accused of having discriminated against Larina. Here is the post from February 20, 2024, where he confirms the Russian teacher's version and the unfair treatment towards him:
In reference to what happened on February 18 in our Aelia Duty Free store at Rome Fiumicino Airport, we would like to once again apologize for what happened.
This was a simple error by the operators present at the checkout at the time and who are sincerely sorry for this unfortunate episode.
Indeed, we confirm that there are no regulations, company or airport directives that prohibit the sale of water to anyone, much less citizens of Russian nationality or passengers bound for Russia.
We are taking all appropriate disciplinary measures against the personnel concerned and are carrying out new awareness campaigns among our employees to guarantee customers and the hundreds of people who work every day at Aelia Duty Free Italia, in full attention to the values of the company that condemns and rejects all forms of discrimination without exception.
In fact, respect for people has always been a cornerstone in which we invest daily. Our commitment now is to continue working to ensure that such incidents do not happen again and that the best experience in our stores is guaranteed.
Doubt (explained) about the recent creation of social pages
One questionable element concerns the social pages of Aelia Duty Free. They are all opened recently, like that of Facebook created precisely on February 5, 2024, a few days before the scandal.
Pure coincidence, according to what we learn through a confirmation from the Lagardère group which manages the Aelia brand: “I confirm that the pages refer to our company. Specifically, the AeliaDutyFree Italia page on FB, AeliaDutyFree_ita on IG and Aelia Duty Free Italia on Open from an AdR source.
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