The Apprentice star Lottie Lion blasts children in Business Class on flight

A British television star sparked debate online after blasting a young family who had purchased Business Class tickets for their young children.

Charlotte (Lottie) Lion, 23, took to Instagram to vent her frustration over the situation, which happened during a Business Class flight to Paris.

The young woman, who is known for her appearance on The Apprentice in 2019, shared a photo to Instagram of her head in her hands, along with a caption.

“Not to sound pretentious or anything (but we all know I am) why the f*** are children allowed in business class?” she wrote.

Lion soon revealed that her outrage was caused by a child sitting next to her, who was behaving badly in Business Class. The child’s entire family appeared to be in Business Class.

“There’s a bratty 6-year-old sat NEXT TO ME with the parents in the row in front,” she wrote.

Lion didn’t hold back in her criticism of the young flyers or coming up with solutions.

After asking her followers to send her questions, one asked, “What are parents flying business class supposed to do with their kids?”

Lion was not shy in making a suggestion.

“I don’t know, put them in the luggage hold or something I guess,” she responded.

Despite what sounded like a terrible flight, Lion appeared to enjoy her Paris trip once she had arrived.

Soon after the flight, she shared pictures on Instagram of her luxurious hotel room, which had windows that opened out to show the Paris skyline.

Those familiar with Lion’s appearance on the BBC television show The Apprentice, will not be surprised by her brusque social media comments.

During her time on the show, at just 19 years old, the entrepreneur claimed she was labelled “the controversial one” and often received online abuse related to her time on the show.

However, Lion isn’t the first traveller to express strong opinions about how to treat families who are travelling together.

In March, an influencer caused online debate after refusing to switch Business Class seats so a family could sit together.

Can children fly Business Class?

It can be rare to see families with small children sitting up at the front of the plane. However, this isn’t because airlines won’t allow them, or only allow certain kinds of travellers to sit in First Class or Business Class.

Rather, these tickets are much more expensive, so tend to be purchased by individuals, couples or people travelling for business.

Should children fly Business Class?

The question is a much debated one among travellers, similar to how far one should recline their seat on a plane, or whether people should swap seats so friends or family can sit together.

In some cases, people would even pay to have a child-free flight in economy class.

In August 2022, 72 per cent of Herald readers who responded to a poll said they would pay for a child-free flight. However, of this group, 36 per cent said they only would if it was a long-haul flight.