Airport worker 'punches passenger' holding baby during 13-hour delay

An airport worker has been photographed appearing to swing a punch at a passenger holding a baby, after he complained about a 13-hour delay while waiting for a European flight.

Passengers were reportedly furious as they waited hours to board an EasyJet flight EZY2122 from Nice on the French Riviera, to London’s Luton airport this morning.

Witness Arabella Ark, who captured the shocking scene on camera, was waiting at the airport with her children.

She initially shared the picture on Twitter, with the caption: “EasyJet employee hitting man holding baby after delay of over 14hours.”

“Everyone was having the most appalling day and then, all of a sudden, a man holding a baby gets whacked,” Ms Ark told the Daily Mail.

“It all kicked off after his [the father’s] wife was talking to the man [suspected attacker] because we were getting no information whatsoever about the delay.”

Mrs Arkwright said the passenger was holding his nine-month-old baby while his wife complained there was no baby food available.

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She said the alleged attacker "showed no interest or concern" and smiled at the family before he punched the man, giving him a black eye.

"Then out of nowhere, he just whacked him. My husband, who's 64, had to pull the man off him and hold him against a glass door. Everyone was appalled."

The airline responded to the tweet three hours later, confirming the airport employee did not work for EasyJet, but instead was employed by French special assistance provider Samsic, who are contracted by Nice airport.

“We are concerned to see this - it is not an EasyJet staff member & they do not work for our ground handling agents,” the spokesperson tweeted.

“We are taking this up with Nice Airport & their special assistance provider Samsic who we understand this person works for.”

EasyJet confirmed the flight was delayed due to an aircraft issue and was waiting for a replacement jet and crew to arrive from London’s Gatwick airport.

Mrs Arkwright said passengers were offered a $6 food voucher while they waited.

“It was utter chaos at the terminal. There were bags all over the place, everyone was frustrated and we had no idea what was going on,” she said.

“Children were crying, they were exhausted, people were having to stand up for hours. I asked to speak to someone but they said no one was available.”