Lesbian couple 'feared for their lives' during homophobic attack on Jetstar flight

A lesbian couple "feared for their lives" when they were subjected to a torrent of homophobic abuse from a fellow passenger on a Jetstar flight in Australia.

Cat Franke, 23, and Julz Evans, 26, were travelling from Melbourne to Perth to visit family on New Year's Eve when a "intoxicated man" allegedly started shouting homophobic slurs and kicking the back of their seats.

"[He] started mumbling 'kiss, come on I wanna see some lesbians kiss'. My partner and I felt so uncomfortable because of this pervert we immediately stopped our conversation and sat as still as possible, hoping he would leave us alone," Franke wrote in a Facebook post. "

"Unfortunately because we had not met his request he began his homophobic slurs, singing loudly and also mumbling about how we were faggots, dykes and poofters."

Franke said that the couple endured the "most awful verbal abuse and discrimination I have ever experienced" on board the flight.

"I feared for mine and my partner's lives on that plane, we were physically trapped with someone who wanted to hurt us and make sure we had a terrible time," she wrote.

"The punching continued for hours and my partner could not lean back against their seat," Franke said.

The couple said they alerted crew members to the man's behaviour, but claim that they did not step in and continued to serve him alcohol. "[They] failed to do anything about him other than giggle at his drunkenness," Franke wrote.

A Jetstar spokesperson told Fairfax Media that the airline does not tolerate discrimination. He said that the crew member alerted to the incident was "appalled" at the man's behaviour.

"Jetstar has a range of procedures in place to deal with these situations," the spokesperson said.

Franke said she expects a full refund for the "nightmare" journey and that the man will be blacklisted from future Jetstar flights.