A couple have been banned by an airline after a huge row erupted in the cabin – with one woman “pushing the back of her seat” and putting their “legs on her arm rests”.
The row broke on a fight from Hong Kong to London on September 17 when the Chinese passenger reclined her seat sparking a heated reaction from a couple seated behind her.
It’s reported a husband and wife, who were from the Chinese administered territory of Hong Kong, took exception at the woman reclining her seat and claimed she had blocked their view of in-flight TV screens.
Posting on the Chinese social media platform Xiaohongshu, the woman explained as it was not meal time she felt she was entitled to recline her seat on the long flight.
However, things quickly turned ugly when the woman behind started putting her legs on the armrests of the Chinese woman and slapping her hands away if she tried to move them, before the husband began “frantically pushing” her seat.
Sharing a video of the bizarre interaction, the woman explained: “I was shocked because it was not meal time, yet the flight attendant wanted me to compromise, I rejected the suggestion.
“When she (the woman from the couple) realised I couldn’t speak Cantonese, she started calling me ‘mainland girl’ in a derogatory tone.”
In Hong Kong people who come to the city from mainland China can sometimes face discrimination and prejudice.
However, after the social media post received more than 194,000 likes the airline Cathay Pacific announced the Hong Kong couple had been banned from flying with the company. The BBC reported the company stated it had “a strict zero-tolerance policy” towards behaviours that disrespect fellow passengers.
In the background of the video shared by the passenger online some fellow travellers can be heard trying to come to her defence. One says: “Don’t call yourself a Hong Konger, you bully.”
Another adds: “This is too much. How old are you? Why are you bullying a young girl?”
People reacting to the video online were also dismayed by the couple’s behaviour, with one pointing out: “If they want more space, they should have paid for first-class seats.”
Others were quick defend Hong Kong, with some writing: “Most people in Hong Kong are kind, this couple is an exception.”