TEL AVIV, Israel — A couple is accused of leaving their infant at an Israeli airport and trying to board a plane after being told their baby would need a ticket to board the flight.

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The pair, identified only as having Belgian passports, did not buy a ticket for their baby boy for a planned Ryanair flight from Israel’s Ben Gurion Airport to Brussels, The Times of Israel reported.

Instead of buying the infant a ticket, the child was left behind at the airline’s check-in counter, CNN reported. A spokesperson for Ryanair told CNN that a check-in agent then contacted airline security who retrieved the passengers and referred the matter to local police.

In a statement to CNN, the Israeli Airport Authority said, “the couple left the infant seat with the baby and ran toward security checks at Terminal 1 in an attempt to reach the boarding gate for the flight.”

Ryanair’s policy is to charge $27 for passengers to fly with an infant sitting on a child’s lap, according to CNN. A full seat must be paid for if the adults want the baby to fly in a car seat.

In a statement to The Times of Israel, Ryanair said, “All the workers were in shock. We have never seen anything like that. We didn’t believe what we were seeing.”

A spokesperson for Israel Police told CNN that the matter was resolved by the time officers arrived, saying the child was with its parents and there is no further investigation.

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