Qatar Airways has defended the decision to leave a couple sitting next to a dead passenger on a 15-hour flight, saying that its crew "acted quickly, appropriately and professionally".

Qatar Airways is now responding after passengers claim they were forced to sit next to a dead body for four hours on flight from Melbourne, Australia to Doha, Qatar.

An airline traveler has spoken of his shock after cabin staff sat him next to the body of a fellow passenger who had died during the flight.