Barely a day after it was reported that winner of Atinka Media Village’s plus size women reality show, ‘Di Asa’, was kicked out of Emirates’ plane to Dubai because of her size, the airline company has responded justifying its actions.

In a statement copied to Ghanaweb, the organization said it “places the highest standards on in-flight safety and as part of this, it is a requirement that all passengers are safely and comfortably seated with their seatbelt fastened. An industry practice for passengers who cannot be accommodated in a single seat due to their size is for them to purchase an extra seat for their own safety and comfort, should a seat be available.”

The grand finale of Di Asa Season 3 came off on Saturday, September 28, 2019, at the Fantasy Dome where Precious Mensah, popularly known as PM won the hearts of many after a gruelling four rounds of different genre of dances.

Following her splendid display, PM walked home with a brand-new saloon car, while the first runner-up received ‘Abossey Okai Macho’, with the third claiming ‘Aboboyaa’. They also received several other prizes from the proud sponsors of the show.

PM, who got a sponsored trip to Dubai as part of the prize for emerging as winner of the 2019 contest, “was disallowed to be onboard all because her body size was bigger than a single seat in Emirates Airlines’ flight”, according to reports.

Moments after the news went viral, social media was flooded with mixed reactions – fury, thought-provoking, mockery and to some extent, jovial. While some argued the decision to “kick her out of the plane” is discriminatory, others said Atinka Media Village, organisers of the event should have bought her two tickets knowing how huge PM is.