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Emirates passenger couldn’t sleep on business class flight after ‘man tried to urinate on her’

The woman used thousands of airmiles to upgrade her flight

Chris Wilson
Monday 15 May 2023 15:08 BST
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An Emirates plane on approach to Heathrow Airport
An Emirates plane on approach to Heathrow Airport (Getty Images)

A woman’s recent flight in Emirates’ business class was ruined after another passenger “looked like he was going to urinate” on her.

The anonymous traveller told The Daily Telegraph that a man onboard approached her seat while undoing his trousers.

Speaking to Katie Morley, the publication’s ‘consumer champion’, the woman claimed the man repeatedly “drunkenly approached my seat and wanted to sit down, convinced it was his”.

“It happened a third time, and this time as he approached me he undid his trousers and it looked like he was going to urinate at my seat. My husband had to push him away,” she said.

The aggrieved woman said she had used 108,000 airmiles to upgrade to business class on the 13-hour flight from Dubai to Sydney to visit her daughter in Sydney.

She and her husband quickly became aware of a “rowdy group” on the flight, with the man who approached her seat apparently having “already urinated on his own seat”.

“This man totally ruined our business class journey and I got absolutely no sleep whatsoever because I was terrified that if I shut my eyes he would come back and relieve himself on me,” she said.

“A report was completed on board regarding the incident, and I was told Emirates would be in touch. I contacted Emirates and requested an upgrade for the same leg of the return journey, or reimbursement of the 108,000 miles. 

“This was refused and instead it would only give me 20,000 miles as a ‘gesture of goodwill’. I feel that this is inadequate compensation, given what happened”.

In her column, Ms Morley referenced the man’s “appalling behaviour” and called the woman’s request for the reimbursement of her airmiles fair.

Speaking to The Independent, an Emirates spokesperson said: “We are disappointed to hear Mrs. S’s complaint. Emirates takes the safety of its passengers very seriously and our Customer Affairs team are in direct contact with her to resolve the matter”.

Despite this, the anonymous woman was reportedly only offered 60,000 miles as new compensation. Ms Morley added that the “response to your horrible ordeal has been a complete joke”.

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