The passenger, Giorgio Destro of Padua, Italy, said he endured sitting next to an obese person on a nine hour flight in July from Cape Town to Dubai. Destro claims the passenger was spilling over into his seat and it ruined his trip.
Destro says he asked crew members to move him to another seat, but they couldn’t accommodate him. The flight was jammed pack and there was nowhere else he could have been seated.
Emirates is now being sued by Destro for about $3,100. The disgruntled passenger wants to be reimbursed for his airfare and he wants compensation for damages.
Destro said he was offered seats in the area reserved for the aircrew, but only when they became available. He added that during the last phase of his flight, he decided to sit in his assigned seat and suffer the ‘spillover’ from the other passenger.
As for his evidence, Destro tweeted a photo of himself. Next to him is the other passenger, who Destro said was listening to his music, watched movies and slept.
Padova Viaggio aereo con a fianco super-obeso, avvocato padovano fa causa a nXdrYW2Gsk
— Corriere del Veneto (@corriereveneto) September 20, 2016
A spokesperson for Emirates spoke with MailOnline, but they said the airline couldn’t comment on Destro’s lawsuit because the matter was ongoing. The case will go in front of a judge on October 20th in Padua.
This isn’t the first time someone’s size has been an issue on a plane. In 2013, a passenger was asked to exit a plane that was flying from Chicago to Denver. The passenger was allegedly told that the flight was overbooked and they had a “customer of size” policy, which encourages passengers who encroaches part of neighboring seats to purchase a second seat before they travel.