Kenya Airways refunded a woman half her ticket cost after she spent an overnight flight sitting next to a dead man.

Lena Pettersson, a journalist with Radio Sweden, boarded a flight in Amsterdam and immediately noticed the man next to her was unwell.

"He was sweating and having seizures," she told Sverigesradio.se. "Air hostesses were there all along, but the plane took off anyway."

The attendants put out a call for any passengers who might be able to help, and someone eventually began heart massage on the man, The Local reported.

It didn't help, and the man died.

While the crew moved other passengers near the man, said to be in his 30s, there was nowhere for Pettersson or her friend to relocate.

"Of course it was unpleasant, but I am not a person who makes a fuss," she said, according to The Local.

Flight attendants didn't know the best course of action, so they wrapped the man in a blanket and left him in the middle aisle, Expressen.se reported.

Pettersson said he was rather tall, and his feet were mere inches from her.

After Pettersson returned from holiday, she approached Air Kenya for compensation, and received about US$715 (roughly half her ticket price) and an apology.

"I am happy with it. I think it was a reasonable substitute," she told Expressen.