Thanks to a swiftly rescheduled flight and emergency medical treatment, Cai Chunzhi escaped death last week after being bitten by a lethally venomous snake.

Now, less than two weeks later, he has been hit with a 67,000 yuan (US$8,261) bill from Shandong Airline, who arranged the life saving airlift.

The company arranged a flight from Cai's hometown Yantai in Shandong to Shanghai on November 7.

He returned to Shandong Province yesterday after 10 days in a Shanghai hospital.

Cai, 30, says he is more than happy to foot the bill.

"I'm willing to pay 1 million if the airline requests," Cai told the Shanghai-based Oriental Morning Post before leaving hospital. "Without help from the airline and hospital, I would have died."

While Cai is overjoyed by the airline's actions, others affected by his hastily chartered air ambulance are rather less impressed.

One Shandong Airline passenger surnamed Li has asked to be compensated for the more than four-hour delay caused to his flight, from Yantai to Jiamusi in Northeast China's Heilongjiang Province, by Cai's dash to Shanghai.

So far the airline is rejecting his claim.

"We should not be blamed for the delay and will not pay the requested compensation," a manager working for the airline, surnamed Wang, said.

The airline refusal stems from the fact that at least 90 per cent of passengers affected agreed to help save Cai, who knelt and begged for a flight to Shanghai after being bitten by a snake known as a " hundred pacer."

The reptile gets its name from the idea that anyone bitten by it will die before they take another hundred paces.

Wang said his company had taken effective measures to ensure the passengers experienced as short a delay as possible.

But Li contends that, because the delay ran beyond four hours, it "is reasonable to ask for compensation."

According to airline regulations, passengers experiencing delays exceeding four but less than eight hours are entitled to compensation equivalent to 30 per cent of their flight ticket.

Wang said the delay to Li's flight caused by the rescheduling was only three-and-half hours. A further 45 minute delay was caused by a passenger who was unwilling to take the rescheduled flight.

"We spent 45 minutes trying to persuade the passenger to get on the flight," said Wang.

Ma Yongjian, a Shanghai-based lawyer said the compensation claim has shown the conflict between social "morals and law."

"From the moral perspective, Li should not ask for compensation from the airline which has gone out of its way to save a man's life," said Ma.

"But Li is entitled to protect his legal rights in line with the country's laws and regulations."

(China Daily November 18, 2005)