Lion Air passenger boards plane to find her allocated seat doesn't exist

A passenger who boarded a low-cost Indonesian airline only to find the seat on her boarding pass was non-existent has shared her tale of bewilderment.

Satwika Ika, who was flying with Lion Air on a $45-ticket from the city of Palembang to Jakarta, was issued seat number 35F but upon reaching the back of the plane discovered that the last row was 34, after which the toilet was located.

Ika claims that a family travelling with a young child was left in the same situation, having also been issued a boarding pass for row 35.

In a Facebook post which was reportedly shared more than 10,000 times, Ika says that she alerted flight attendants to the mistake and was eventually given a spare seat in the middle of the plane after everyone else had finished boarding.

She described these flight attendants as being "rude" and said they "lacked manners". After the post went viral, Lion Air issued Ika with an apology and provided an explanation.

The mix-up resulted from the airline's decision to swap a plane that was due to operate the flight (a Boeing 737-900ER housing 39 rows) with the smaller Boeing 737-800NG, which has 34 rows, in a bid to avoid a potential flight delay, according to Lion Air's corporate communications officer Danang Mandala Prihantoro.

Ika and the other passengers affected had purchased their tickets before the switch was made.

Lion Air, which flies to 126 destinations in Indonesia, Malaysia, Saudi Arabia and China, is the second largest low-cost carrier in south-east Asia (after Malaysia's AirAsia), and its growing fast. Currently, it has 247 aircraft on order, to add to its current stock of 114.