VILE footage shows a man slapping a woman for refusing to give up her seat next to his wife.

A heated altercation erupted at a Colombian airport when businessman Héctor Santacruz struck lawyer Claudia Segura, igniting a confrontation with other travelers.

The conflict arose after Santacruz requested Segura to vacate her seat in the lounge area at Gate 9 of Bogotá’s El Dorado International Airport on Sunday evening.

Segura had apparently taken Santacruz’s seat while he was away.

The businessman became enraged when she refused to stand up and stayed put next to his wife, Karen de Santacruz.

Disturbing footage shows Santacruz threateningly towering over Segura as they exchange heated words.

He is then seen knocking her mobile phone out of her hands before slapping her in the face.

“Get up or I’ll get you up,” Santacruz said before the assault, according to local outlet El Tiempo.

Segura told the outlet: “He hits me on the hand, knocks off my phone and hits me hard in the face and head.

“The magnitude of the impact knocked my earring off.”

Within no time, several horrified passengers – both men and women – rush to Segura’s defence and push Santacruz away.

Others join in as he continues to behave aggressively despite efforts by his wife to calm the situation.

Separate footage filmed just minutes after the brawl shows Segura lying on the ground as airport staff tend to her injuries.

Santacruz is then seen being handcuffed and hauled off by security staff, with passengers cheering.

Segura told El Tiempo: “I am affected and very afraid.”

Segura explained her initial assumption that the seat was empty, noting, “Upon arriving at the waiting area, all seats were occupied except for one that appeared vacant to me.”

“I didn’t have any bags or clothes on me to indicate it was occupied, so I sat down.”

When Santacruz’s wife told her the seat was taken, the lawyer decided to stay put in order to wrap up a work call.

Karen de Santacruz later apologised in a now-deleted video on Instagram, the Daily Mail reports.

She said: “The person shown physically assaulting a woman is my husband.

“And you don’t know how much it hurts me to say this out loud.

“It really hurts me as a woman, as a mother.”

It is unclear whether Santacruz is facing any charges.

Colombia faces significant issues with gender-based violence, experiencing over 500 femicides each year, and nearly 97% of these cases remain unresolved, as per data from Human Rights Watch and civil society organizations.