- Do you know the people involved? Email miriam.kuepper@mailonline.co.uk
This is the shocking moment a couple started kicking their fellow passenger’s seat when she reclined her chair blocking their view of the in-flight TV.
The footage shows the middle-aged husband and wife asking the woman to straighten her seat on the Cathay Pacific flight from Hong Kong to London on September 17 as it was blocking their view of the screen, but the passenger refused.
The wife then put her legs on the armrests of the woman’s seat, before slapping her on the arm and scolding her in Cantonese, according to the Chinese woman, who shared footage of the incident online.
The husband, who was sitting directly behind the woman, also resorted to violence as he allegedly “frantically pushed” the back of her seat, with the video showing the plane seat shaking.
The wife was also caught on video raising her middle finger towards the woman.
Footage shows the middle-aged husband and wife (pictured) asked the woman to straighten her seat on the Cathay Pacific flight from Hong Kong to London on September 17 as it was blocking their view of the screen, but the passenger refused.
The wife then put her legs on the armrest of the woman’s seat, before slapping her on the arm and scolding her in Cantonese, according to the Chinese woman (pictured), who shared footage of the incident online.
The husband, who was sitting directly behind the woman, also resorted to violence as he allegedly “frantically pushed” the back of her seat, with the video showing the plane seat shaking.
“When he realized I couldn’t speak Cantonese, he started calling me ‘mainland girl’ in a derogatory tone,” the native Mandarin speaker added, according to Chinese media.
The passenger said she called a flight attendant for help but was disappointed when the staff member suggested she straighten her seat to appease the Hong Kong couple.
He added that he rejected the flight attendant’s request for a settlement.
The airline said on Sunday it had added the couple to its list of people not allowed to fly, according to BBC.
The video, which the woman shared on social media platform Xiaohongshu, generated a lot of attention with people criticizing the couple for their behavior.
The woman also spoke about the incident in an interview with a Chinese television outlet, saying how touched she was by other passengers who stood up for her when the couple harassed her.
‘When the first person spoke, tears filled my eyes.
“I felt a deep sense of injustice, but also a relief that someone understood and spoke up for me, including many Hong Kongers who helped me,” she said, according to local media.
Cathay Pacific airline told MailOnline in a statement: ‘Cathay Pacific is aware of the incident involving a customer who was verbally harassed by two other disruptive customers on board flight CX253 on 17 September 2024.
‘The safety and well-being of our customers and crew are our top priorities. We maintain a strict zero-tolerance policy towards any behaviour that compromises aviation safety or disrespects other customers.
‘Our investigation into the incident determined that during the flight, the aforementioned customers had a dispute over seat recline, which resulted in the two disruptive customers verbally harassing the customer in the row in front of them. Despite several attempts at mediation by our cabin crew, the disruptive behaviour by the two individuals continued.
‘In an effort to address the situation, the affected customer was moved to a seat in the Premium Economy cabin due to there being no other seats available in the Economy cabin.
‘Our Director of Inflight Services issued two serious verbal warnings to the disruptive individuals involved. In accordance with our ‘General Conditions of Carriage for Passengers and Baggage’, they will be denied carriage on any Cathay Group flights in the future.
‘Cathay Pacific is committed to ensuring a safe and enjoyable experience for all customers. We extend our sincerest apologies to those affected by this incident.’