“Wtf …” is not a subject line you expect to see in a message from the customer-service staff of one of the world’s biggest airlines. But it was the header for a highly offensive message sent in error to an Emirates passenger who sought compensation after a late flight from Manchester to Dubai.

Claire Finch applied for the statutory €600 in compensation through the Resolver website. Her application was successful, but shortly after sending through the confirmation an Emirates customer-service representative sent a second email with the subject line “Wtf …”.

It continued: “… is she on about?!? If you’ve put it in the letter, what the fuk [sic] does she need to do!!!”

A third message arrived shortly afterwards, saying the sender “would like to recall the message, ‘Wtf…’.”

Ms Finch then complained to Emirates, and received an acknowledgment on 24 April. After four weeks of waiting she contacted The Independent.

An airline executive then wrote to her, saying: “Firstly, please accept my personal apologies for any dissatisfaction that you have experienced with Emirates.

“Naturally, I was most concerned to discover that you had inadvertently been copied on an inappropriate internal communication, which was unrelated to yourself or any other passenger.

“Please be assured that we do not condone such actions and this is not indicative of our high standards and the image which Emirates wishes to portray. I can confirm that this matter has already been dealt with internally with the employee concerned.”

Ms Finch, who lives in Congleton in Cheshire, said: “I feel very disappointed and disillusioned with Emirates. They hold themselves up to be one of the more upmarket airlines but their customer service is nothing short of shocking.

“I fully accept that mistakes happen but when they do, a company is measured on how they put them right.

"I feel Emirates have actually treated me with contempt and if it were not for The Independent’s intervention, I would still be awaiting a response.”

An Emirates spokesperson said the airline was “surprised by the language used in the email exchange”, adding: “This does not represent the customer friendly attitude that we pride ourselves on here at Emirates. We sincerely apologise to Ms Finch and will contact her directly to assure her that this is an isolated incident and necessary actions will be taken.”