Unruly pax: Reclining seats a nuisance - Cambodia - Curt Lewis

Air rage: Three Chinese passengers thrown off aircraft in Cambodia after scuffle broke out over plane seat

Passengers arguing on board the aircraft. Photo: Chengdu Commercial Daily

Three Chinese air passengers were thrown off a flight in Cambodia after a scuffle broke out on board before the plane took off, according to a newspaper report.

The argument started after a man told a woman in front of him that her seat was tipped back too far and he inadvertently touched her hair, the Chengdu Commercial Daily reported.

The pair began to quarrel and their friends and relatives joined in, the report said.

The two sides began to scold and jostle each other and efforts to calm them by flight attendants, their tourist guide and other passengers failed.

The captain asked immigration officers to escort the pair and the man's wife off the plane, which was due to fly from Siem Reap to Chengdu in Sichuan province on Monday night.

The captain said the trio, whose full names were not given in the report, were jeopardising the safety of the flight and had to leave before take-off, despite pleas from other passengers and the tourist guide.

One passenger was quoted as saying that the man and wife involved in the dispute were in their 60s and it was surprising they had got so angry.

The flight took off more than an hour behind schedule.

The trio were due to return home on two later, separate flights.

The media in China regularly reports on the bad behaviour of some Chinese tourists overseas and the country's tourism authorities compile a blacklist of travellers deemed to have acted particularly badly.