Two people removed from Air New Zealand flight after failing to listen to safety briefing

Two "wealthy-looking" passengers were kicked off an Air New Zealand flight after reportedly refusing to pay attention to an airline safety briefing. 

The two, a man and a woman, were sitting in an exit-row on a plane at Wellington Airport bound for Auckland on Tuesday morning.

Air New Zealand said the woman was removed from the flight after delaying the aircraft's departure.

The plane had to return to the gate after the pair refused to view a card detailing the flight's safety instructions. 

A passenger who sat near the "wealthy-looking" couple on the flight said the woman was carrying a Louis Vuitton bag, and appeared very "high maintenance". 

"The video started playing and the flight attendant held up the card, but the woman started looking down at her book." 

She soon picked up her phone, and both she and her male travel companion were looking at their phones, she said. 

"A flight attendant said very patiently 'Can you please watch what's happening because this is the exit row'.

"The flight attendant was super kind and kept asking her, but the woman put her fingers in her ears."  

People on the plane were getting agitated about the delay, she said. 

"They didn't seem to care. The passengers behind them were saying 'For God's sake, it takes two minutes to look at it, just look at it' ... they seemed like they were too important for it." 

It was shockingly arrogant behaviour, the passenger said. 

They didn't seem to care that they'd delayed the plane for other passengers by 25 minutes, she said. 

"You'd think they'd be embarrassed or mortified, but they seemed quite chuffed about the whole thing."  

When they were told that police were waiting for them, the woman pulled out her phone and loudly tried to make a booking with Jetstar, she said. 

Air New Zealand did really well in how they handled the situation, she said. 

"I just felt for the flight attendants, because they got abused." 

Another passenger on board the plane told Newshub:

"I have to say that if watching the safety video is so crucial and you can be escorted off the plane, maybe Air New Zealand should stop making 'Rachel Hunter ice cream ad' safety videos," the passenger said.

"Just make a short video that is compulsory to watch and let people know if they don't watch the video, the police will come and take them away." 

​A police spokeswoman said police were requested to meet one passenger at the airport on Tuesday morning.

"The passenger will receive an infringement notice under Civil Aviation Authority rules relating to the use of a cellphone," the spokeswoman said.