According to Businessdesk news wire, the 75-year-old Hutt Valley boarded flight NZ421 when cabin staff attempted to instruct him in his duties as an emergency exit row passenger, where he was seated in row 12, in a window seat.
Jones kept reading when the staff member sought to deliver him and other passengers a routine safety briefing and became argumentative when asked to stop reading, again refusing to be instructed on emergency procedures.
Told he could be moved to another seat if he was unable or unwilling to assist in an emergency, he refused to be moved and asked to be left alone, according to passengers in the same row, who witnessed the incident.
Two Civil Aviation Authority staff were summoned to the plane to escort the former politician, sometime author and boxing enthusiast, who owns a suite of commercial and industrial properties in New Zealand and Australia, which the Robt Jones Holdings website says is valued at more than $1.5 billion.
"I was at the front of the plane so I didn't see what had happened [to cause his removal] but we just saw him being escorted," Marvelly said.
"He wasn't being hauled off, he went voluntarily, the passengers he was seated near were clapping and cheering."
Marvelly is in Wellington for meetings for her new website Villainesse.com. She will also be performing at the Massey University graduation.
She said the situation with Jones was handled with professionalism and the rest of the flight went without any further dramas.
"The captain came on and apologised and said, 'No matter who you are, you have to comply with crew instrusctions'."
A spokeswoman for Air New Zealand confirmed that Aviation Security was called to flight NZ421 this morning prior to departure to assist with a passenger who refused to follow crew instructions.
"The captain requested that Aviation Security remove the passenger from the flight, in line with Civil Aviation requirements," she said.
