SINGAPORE — Malaysian budget airline AirAsia on Friday (Sept 30) apologised to a passenger who is paraplegic and had to crawl across the cabin to get to his wheelchair when the aircraft was at Changi Airport. 

A five-second video of the man struggling to manoeuvre himself posted on TikTok on Thursday contained a caption criticising the quality of the airline's service.

The video, uploaded by a user "keliateva", read: “We landed at Changi Airport with AirAsia QZ268 from Jakarta in Sept 22, 2022 and (was) asked to pay S$40 for aisle wheelchair just to get out from the 3F seat to his wheelchair, which is three metres away. This is how AirAsia treats (its) paraplegic passengers.”

In the video, the middle-aged passenger, in a black sports shirt, appeared to be crawling along the aisle clutching a seat handle. A flight stewardess was standing near the man who appeared to be telling someone, “It is not your fault”.

The video has received more than 8,000 likes, 409 forwards and 509 comments.

The user also posted another video showing the same man on the floor, with the stewardess holding his hand and assisting him. A man in a suit was also trying to help.

That video received more than 3,801 likes and more than 450 comments. 

Responding to TODAY’s queries, Mr Kesavan Sivanandam, chief airport and customer experience officer at AirAsia, said that the airline has contacted the man.

“We have reached out to the guest to sincerely apologise and will ensure an incident of this nature does not occur again.” 

Mr Kesavan also said that the airline has “procedures in place for the carriage of disabled or mobility impaired guests including the provision of an aisle wheelchair”.

He added that wheelchairs can be booked in advance, at the time passengers book their flight tickets, and this has been “highlighted during the booking process”.

“The safety and well-being of our guests is always our number one priority.”

It is unclear whether the passenger had booked an aisle wheelchair.

The airline said that it was unable to provide more details on the passengers due to privacy laws.

Many TikTok users expressed their surprise and dismay over the situation, though some have acknowledged that the stewardess tried her best to help the man.

User "Dewa Iblis Bulan" wrote that it was “so sad to see this thing happen”.

Another user "Lalabingbong" wrote: “If you listen closely, the crew (members) were actually asking someone to help the guy.”