I have already criticised giving the McCanns VIP status in the post below. Something in this Sky News report stands out. "Sky News Online's Kate Sullivan, who was on flight 6552 with the family, said they were whisked through the VIP section and allowed on to the jet first.
Sullivan said the McCanns sat with their twins Sean and Amelie in the front row of the plane. The second row was kept empty to give them some privacy.
Passengers offered words of comfort as they filed past them on the plane.
Sullivan said: "There was a huge media scrum at the airport, with reporters from all around the world.
"The plane is full. But one TV broadcaster was offering significant sums of cash to passengers to try and get on the flight."
To deny passengers seats just to allow the McCanns privacy takes the biscuit. They did not seek the privacy when everything was running their way. Either the plane is full in which case there are no empty seats, or the plane is not full in which case there are some empty seats. My understanding is that with airlines the idea is to get as many bums on seats as possible, Easyjet's owner Stelios Haji-Ioannou has stated on television that this is the case. So, who authorised the empty seats in this case and why did they think the McCanns so special that they deserved this kind of treatment?
