Passengers injure cabin crew and police officer after being denied free upgrade to first-class on Hainan Airlines flight

Two passengers on a Hainan Airlines flight from Taiyuan to Chongqing were caught sitting in first-class seats despite holding only economy-class tickets on Jun 12.

Shanghaiist reported that crew members had requested for them to either pay the fare difference or give up their seats, but both men refused.

Instead, they turned aggressive and a fight broke out, causing four crew members and a police officer assigned to the flight to be injured.

This resulted in the plane being forced to turn back to the terminal so that more security personnel could end the brawl.

The flight was thus delayed for two hours.

Hainan Airlines released a statement and expressed disapproval at how their employees had been treated.

They also asked for 'more understanding and respect for people in service jobs and for civilized behavior in the cabin' as well as requested that the two violent passengers be put on the national travel blacklist,