Lily was told her Etihad flight back to Australia was overbooked and there was no room for her. Then the staff found him a seat…but there was one glaring problem.

An Australian woman said she had a panic attack after being temporarily kicked off a flight before being allowed back on and having to sit with a stranger’s toddler on her lap.

Lily Winward, a 19-year-old from Ulladulla in south-east New South Wales, flew to Australia from Athens in September after competing in a European athletics competition, but the return trip turned sour when he was told his plane from Abu Dhabi was overbooked.

Ms Winward said Etihad staff informed her she would be put up at a hotel near the airport until a new seat could be booked.

This upset the teenager as she traveled in sports tights and a tank top with no change of clothes out of the airport in the country where traditional modest attire is expected for women.

The situation deteriorated when she felt “harassed” by a male passenger who had also been kicked off the flight.

Ms Winward resisted the man’s insistence that she share a taxi with him and said she suffered a panic attack after Etihad staff showed little concern for her.

“I was quite upset. I was crying and said, “I just want to go home; I don’t feel safe going to a hotel, especially with this guy bothering me,” Ms Winward told Nine newspapers.

Following the panic attack, Ms Winward was told she could return to her original flight, but would have to occupy a seat allocated to a toddler.

This meant Ms Winward was forced to hold the stranger’s child on her lap for much of the flight.

“I just think it’s not enough, for someone who paid $3,000 for plane tickets, this shouldn’t happen,” she said.

Since the ordeal, Ms Winward said her travel agent had complained several times to Etihad without receiving a substantive response.

Daily Mail Australia has contacted Etihad Airways for comment.

This issue has raised uncomfortable questions about the treatment of young Western female travelers by Middle Eastern airlines.

More than a dozen women, including five Australians, were forced off a Qatar Airways plane in Doha and subjected to an invasive search and examination when an abandoned baby was found in the toilet of the airport in 2020.

The women were strip searched and forced to undergo a gynecological examination.

Following complaints by the then Morrison government, Qatar apologized for the incident.

“This incident is considered a violation of Qatar’s laws and values,” said Qatari Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, adding that the case had been referred to prosecutors. .

In August, a young Australian living in Britain warned travelers to Europe to pay extra for their plane seats if they want a guaranteed seat, due to the widespread practice of overbooking.

Tiah Slattery has advised those visiting the continent to pay extra airfare costs to avoid “chaotic” disruption to their trip.

The expat found himself stranded at Tirana airport after buying a $575 ticket on a budget airline and being kicked off an overbooked flight during the summer season.

When booking her trip, Tiah had refused to pay an optional £25 ($48) fee to secure a seat, leaving her stranded in the sweltering heat of the airport.

The Australian was on a waiting list with 11 others for a departing flight and became “desperate” after learning the next available flight was not for another month.