Hong Kong boyband Loong 9 recently came under fire for allegedly cutting in line while boarding a flight at Shenzhen Bao’an Airport.
This came after a netizen, who was on the same flight, took to Weibo to rant about her encounter with the nine-men band. She also shared a video of the incident, which has since gone viral.
According to the netizen, passengers were queueing to board a Shenzhen Airlines to Beijing on February 22. However, despite the approaching boarding time, they were kept waiting.
Suddenly, when the band and their entourage showed up, they were given priority boarding.
They were followed by a swarm of fans, who also rushed in, cutting the line.
Passengers were not pleased and there was chaos and drama at the gate.
To make matters worse, in the video, one band member could be seen waving to fans at the boarding gate, as though it was a fan meet.
Angry passengers were heard shouting: “What is this nonsense? Do they really think they’re stars?” while another asked ground staff: “Why did you block the door just now and prevent everyone from going through the security check?”
Annoyed, the netizen questioned why the band, who bought economy class tickets, were allowed to board ahead of business and other economy class passengers.
“Do celebrities not have to queue?! Airport staff gave no reasonable explanation. We, as paying passengers, deserve respect!” she asked.
Loong 9 has since posted a statement on Weibo addressing the incident.
They apologised for the inconvenience caused to fellow travellers and the disruption to airport staff.
They also urged fans to remain rational in their support and vowed to uphold stricter self-discipline in future activities.
However, in their statement, Loong 9 suggested that the “queue-cutting” was not intentional.
The band claimed they were following “real-time communication with multiple parties” and were instructed to board at a designated time and gate to prevent crowding.
In response, the netizen revealed that the airline ground staff later called to apologise and offered compensation, which she declined.
“I posted about this incident online because I wanted simple, genuine respect — not material compensation. I hung up the call after saying that,” she said.
