A three-year-old boy was mistakenly served a glass of white wine on a Cathay Pacific flight on the night of April 24, prompting his parents to share the incident on social media.
The family was seated in a business class cabin on a flight from Hong Kong to London, said the boy’s mother, Ms Wong, reported media outlets.
After taking a sip of the alcoholic beverage – which the boy thought was water – he told his father, Mr Tsui, that it was sour. His parents then tried the drink and realised it was white wine.
They immediately alerted a flight attendant, who allegedly just apologised, took away the wine and served the child water.
Ms Wong raised the incident with another senior crew member, who subsequently found a French doctor on the flight to check on the boy. The doctor assured the mother that the boy displayed no symptoms from consuming alcohol and would be fine.
Recounting the incident on Xiaohongshu, Ms Wong expressed concern over potential long-term health issues from the incident.
“We understand that alcohol consumption in young children can have delayed neurological, developmental and physiological impacts that may not manifest immediately,” she said.
She added that they are arranging for medical assessments with paediatric specialists.
The airline apologised to the couple for the incident, and offered to refund the child’s ticket with three one-class upgrade vouchers and to cover the costs of medical check-ups.
In an e-mail to Ms Wong on April 26, the airline also noted that it had conducted immediate coaching for all crew members to reinforce the importance of checking orders before serving them.
Ms Wong said that despite the apology, the airline did not provide a proper account of the incident or address how it would prevent a similar incident from happening in the future.
“During the whole process, there was a lack of care for my son. They gave me the impression that they were trying to shirk responsibility,” she said.
The airline told news outlet South China Morning Post that following the incident, an internal review has been launched to ensure follow-up actions are implemented.
“Our cabin crew paged medical personnel on board and consulted an independent medical agency to ensure the child’s safety while providing the necessary help and support,” said a spokesperson.
“Throughout the flight, our cabin crew regularly monitored the child’s condition. The customers disembarked the flight as normal.”
The airline said it would continue to support and assist the family.
Mr Tsui told The Standard that the couple shared the incident on social media to raise fellow parents’ awareness of child safety during flights.
He said: “If a flagship Asian carrier can miss such basic safeguards in business class, every travelling family is at risk.”
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