Hong Kong's Cathay Pacific Airways has banned a couple for harassing a mainland Chinese woman who refused to put up her reclined seat.

A video of the incident shows a couple taunting, using vulgar gestures and jostling the chair of a female passenger who reclined her seat on a long-haul flight.

Hong Kong-based airline Cathay Pacific has banned two passengers from its flights after an argument over seat-reclining etiquette descended into xenophobic insults.

Cathay Pacific will begin direct flights from DFW to Hong Kong on April 25. The long-haul flight will run on Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays, and is scheduled to leave DFW at 11:55 p.m. and arrive in Hong Kong at 5:05 a.m. two days later.

Hong Kong aviation investigators say an engine problem that caused Cathay Pacific to ground its entire fleet of Airbus A350 jets for inspection earlier this month could have escalated into “extensive damage.

Cathay Pacific Airways will launch nonstop flights between Hong Kong and Dallas-Fort Worth on April 24, 2025 with departures on Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays. The airline plans to fly an Airbus A350-1000 on the almost 17-hour flight. When it launches, it will be the longest flight in the airline's network.

To recline or not to recline? Seat-reclining etiquette on planes has long been the subject of debate, but an argument over reclining seats between three passengers on Hong Kong-based airline Cathay Pacific escalated into xenophobic insults.

Cathay Pacific has banned a Hong Kong couple from its flights after their row with a mainland Chinese traveller over her reclining seat. The Chinese woman had complained on social media that she was harassed by the couple seated behind her on a Cathay flight after reclining her seat.

It’s the ultimate tension at the heart of air travel – how far can you recline your seat without irritating the passenger behind?