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This is the shocking moment a couple start kicking a fellow passenger’s seat when she reclined her chair blocking their view of the in-flight television.
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 blocked 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 arm and telling her off in Cantonese, according to the Chinese woman, who shared footage of the incident online.
The husband, who was sat directly behind the woman, also resorted to violence as he allegedly ‘frantically pushed’ the back of her seat, with the video showing her plane seat shaking.
The wife was also caught on video as she lifted her middle finger towards the woman.
This is the shocking moment a couple start kicking a fellow passenger’s seat when she reclined her chair blocking their view of the in-flight television
The husband, who was sat directly behind the woman, also resorted to violence as he allegedly ‘frantically pushed’ the back of her seat, with the video showing her plane seat shaking
The wife was also caught on video as she lifted her middle finger towards the woman
‘When she realised I couldn’t speak Cantonese, she started calling me ‘mainland girl’ in a derogatory tone,’ the native Mandarin speaker added, according to Chinese media.
The passenger said she called over a flight attendant for help, but was let down when the staff member suggested that she straighten her seat to appease the couple from Hong Kong.
She added that she rejected the flight attendant’s request for the compromise.
The airline said on Sunday that it had added the couple to its no-fly list, according to the BBC.
The video, which the woman shared on social media platform Xiaohongshu, garnered a lot of attention, with people slamming the couple for their behaviour.
The woman also spoke about the incident in an interview with a Chinese TV outlet, telling how move she was by other passengers who stood up for her when the couple harassed her.
‘When the first person spoke up, tears welled up in my eyes.
‘I felt a deep sense of injustice, but also a relief that someone understood and spoke up for me, including a lot of Hongkongers who helped me,’ she said, according to local media.
Cathay Pacific airlines told MailOnline in a statement: ‘Cathay Pacific is aware of the incident involving a customer who was verbally harassed by two other disruptive customers onboard flight CX253 on 17 September 2024.
‘The safety and wellbeing of our customers and crew are our highest priorities. We maintain a strict zero-tolerance policy towards any behavior that compromises aviation safety or disrespects fellow customers.
‘Our investigation into the incident found that during the flight, the aforementioned customers engaged in a dispute over seat reclining, which resulted in the two disruptive customers verbally harassing the customer in the row in front of them. Despite several mediation attempts by our cabin crew, the two individuals’ disruptive behavior 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 available seats in the Economy cabin.
‘Our Inflight Service Manager then 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 refused carriage on any Cathay Group flights in the future.
‘Cathay Pacific is committed to ensuring a safe and pleasant experience for all customers. We extend our sincerest apologies to those affected by this incident.’
