(CNN) Europe's budget airline EasyJet flew into a storm Sunday after it emerged a member of the ground staff at Nice airport in France had punched one of its passengers in the face while he was holding a baby.

The victim was due to travel on EasyJet flight 2122 from Nice to Luton airport outside London on Saturday. The flight was delayed for a grueling 11 hours. EasyJet says the airport employee does not work for the airline.

"It was awful the whole thing. I just can't believe people can behave like that," said fellow passenger Arabella Arkwright, 49, who photographed the altercation.

She told CNN it was her husband who restrained the attacker while they waited for police to arrive. The man was taken away, infant in arms, but was later let back on the flight in time for its eventual takeoff. Arkwright said he had a mark from the punch on his face.

"We had a serious problem with someone of staff from our subcontractor Samsic," Jean-François Guitard, a director at Nice airport told CNN.

Read More