HK Express asks passengers to give up paid seats for unpaid family

An online post sparked debate after passengers who had paid to reserve their seats on HK Express were asked to give them up. HK Express said it had received permission from passengers before changing their seats and guaranteed to compensate them.

The post on the HK Express Facebook group published this morning, stating that two parents on Flight UO690 heading to Nagoya yesterday (Jul 15), brought along their two kids and were suspected of not having paid the additional charges to choose their seats.

They then sat together in a row and forced the affected passengers, who boarded the plane later, to switch seats with them.

The budget airline customer service representatives did not ask the family to give up the seats but instead told the affected passengers to request a refund from the airline.

The online post led to widespread discussion, with many netizens expressing anger that the family was allowed to behave in such a way. Some question whether if the family were able to succeed once, what would prevent other people from doing the same next time?

A person who claimed to be one of the victims also posted online to state she did not press the issue to avoid delaying the flight for others.

The budget carrier of Cathay Pacific responded to media inquiries today and stated they had originally booked the family of four in a row of seats together but that row turned out to be an emergency exit due to the change in the aircraft model.

According to regulations, underage passengers are not allowed to sit next to emergency exits, and thus the situation was explained to the family, along with asking for the permission of four other passengers in another row, which included two that had paid to reserve their seats to change them.

The airline added that it had explained the issue to the affected passengers, along with guaranteeing a refund for the incident. The company also thanked the passengers for their support and assistance at the time.

The victim later posted online, stating that the carrier had never coordinated with them and noted they were ordered to give their seats up as they boarded, claiming that HK Express were lying about the issue.

They further added that if the teenagers cannot sit next to the emergency exits, then why are the parents not sitting in those seats instead of forcefully taking the seats of others.