China Eastern Airlines has issued an apology to a female customer who was the target of sexual harassment by a foreign male passenger on one of the airline’s flights. China Eastern has started an investigation into the incident, according to the airline’s official Weibo account.

Xiaoyan, a Chinese student living in Vancouver, Canada, was on flight MU582 from Vancouver to Shanghai on May 9. Xiaoyan said that she sat in the last row of the plane, and that foreign passengers sat around her, four of whom wore traditional Indian clothes. Xiaoyan claimed that a man sitting directly in front of her showed her a pornographic video on his mobile phone and made sexually suggestive gestures at her at least five times.

According to Xiaoyan’s report, she did not feel comfortable asking for help from the other passengers around her because all the passengers sitting near her were acquaintances of the alleged harasser. Therefore, Xiaoyan reported the situation to a crew member, asking to see the purser or the captain. She wanted to change her seat and have the crew inform staff members on the ground about the situation.

However, the crew did not change Xiaoyan’s seat because the plane was at full capacity. A male crew member said that he had not seen the Indian passenger using his mobile phone, and that if Xiaoyan saw him using it again she should tell him so he could remind the man to turn off his phone.

Although Xiaoyan asked the crew to inform staff on the ground, employees on the ground did not follow up with any repercussions for the Indian man.

Legal experts said that the airline was responsible for Xiaoyan’s safety, according to the Law of Protection of Consumers' Rights and the Law of Contract. Lawyers also said that as a service supplier, the airline should fulfill its obligation to protect persons and property. In this case, the passenger has the right to ask for an apology or even compensation from the airline if she can prove damages.