China Eastern Airlines, the Shanghai-based carrier which describes itself as the 7th largest airline in the world, has been forced to deny a damaging rumour that a group of its flight attendants and flight crew were involved in an orgy during a layover in Madrid. It follows the leaking of a sexually explicit video clip which was uploaded onto China’s popular social media platform, Weibo.
According to the online news magazine, Shanghaiist.com rumours quickly spread online that the six individuals shown in the video were employed by either China Eastern Airlines or its subsidiary Shanghai Airlines. It’s unclear whether those who appear gave their consent for the video to be released.
The video apparently shows China Eastern uniforms and ID cards belonging to flight attendants working for the airline. Chinese internet users have been attempting to identify the people in the video, with some commentators suggesting there are at least nine people involved in the sexual antics.
But China Eastern has vehemently denied its staff had anything to do with the video. The airline has issued a statement denying the rumours and says it was created by someone to damage its reputation.
The staff ID card shown in the video may well give away a big clue that the whole thing is a big hoax – with incorrect spellings and displaying an airline code for a completely different carrier. Some are in fact suggesting the video was filmed in Thailand with prostitutes taking on the roles of flight attendants.
The Chinese government has been quick to react to the unfolding drama and internet censors have moved to shut down the rumours. Newsweek says most mentions of the rumour have now been removed from local media and freeweibo.com, has reported that “Eastern airlines 6p” is now the most censored search term in China.
Sadly, this could well be a case of professional pornography creators taking advantage of the old-fashioned sexualised images of flight attendants that continue to persist today. Unfortunately, some Chinese and South East Asian airlines have only made this situation worse by focusing on youth and beauty when recruiting new crew members.
