Shock moment couple kicks & shakes passenger’s seat in furious midair meltdown over her ‘reclined chair’ on UK-bound jet

THIS is the shocking moment a couple kick and shake a passenger’s seat after reclining her chair.

The angry pair claimed the passenger in front was blocking the view of their in-flight television during a journey from Hong Kong to London.

The middle-aged husband and wife from Hong Kong requested the woman in front straighten her seat as it was apparently restricting their view of the screen.

But the passenger refuses, sparking a mid-air meltdown.

The wife puts her legs on the armrests of the woman’s seat before slapping her arm and verbally reprimanding her in Cantonese, according to the woman who shared the footage on social media.

She was even caught on camera aggressively waving her middle finger towards the passenger.

The husband also got involved as he allegedly “frantically pushed” the back of the passenger’s seat, with footage showing her seat vibrating.

According to Chinese media, the native Mandarin speaker said in the video: “When she realised I couldn’t speak Cantonese, she started calling me ‘mainland girl’ in a derogatory tone.”

Passengers who saw the incident unfold came to the woman’s defence and criticised the couples behaviour, BBC reports.

One passenger said: “Don’t call yourself a Hong Konger, you bully.”

Another said: “This is too much. How old are you?

“Why are you bullying a young girl?”

After putting up with the rude couple, the passenger says she asked a flight attendant for help but was disappointed when the staff member suggested she straighten her seat.

The woman said: “I was shocked because it was not meal time, yet the flight attendant wanted me to compromise.

“I rejected the suggestion.”

Despite this, the airline Cathay said on Sunday that it had added the couple to its no-fly list, BBC reports.

The video was shared on the social media platform Xiaohongshu and garnered hundreds of thousands of likes.

The woman told a Chinese TV outlet how much the passengers speaking up meant to her.

She said: “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.”

In a statement, Cathay Pacific told MailOnline: “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 airline confirmed that the dispute was over “seat reclining” which “resulted in the two disruptive customers verbally harassing the customer” in front.

They continued: “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.”