The news website VNExpress conducted the poll after reporting that two
Vietnamese businessmen had to be ordered to stop watching a porn film on a
Vietnam Airlines flight from Hanoi to Paris last month when their female French
seatmate complained.
"The sound and picture of the movies were so disturbing that a French girl
sitting on the same row had to raise her voice," the article said, adding that
the men refused to turn off the video until security officers intervened.
The website published the story as an oddity, but an online poll it ran with
Thursday's article seemed to indicate the men's behaviour wasn't surprising to
some Vietnamese frequent fliers.
The poll asked: "What do you normally do on long-haul flights?" and by Thursday
afternoon 2 712 readers had responded.
Watching "sex films" came in second with 20% of the respondents, while reading
books and newspapers was most popular with 47%. Watching "decent films" came in
third with 15%.
Vietnam Airlines spokesperson Trinh Ngoc Thanh would not comment specifically
on the incident, saying he didn't know the details but said he wasn't sure if
the passengers had violated airline policy.
"Vietnam Airlines doesn't have any regulation on what kinds of movies
passengers can watch on the plane with their computers," Thanh said by
telephone on Thursday.
"Airlines do require passengers to turn off mobile phones and other electronic
devices during take-off and landing," he added.
