A Melbourne mother said she was treated ‘like a criminal’ after her and her newborn baby were kicked off a Tigerair flight because her new son was too young to fly.

Henny Tekiri successfully booked seats for her and her five-day-old son on a Perth Tigerair flight to visit relatives, but shortly before take-off she was ordered off the plane because the baby was too young to fly.

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“They surrounded us and started yelling like we had done something wrong,” Ms Tekiri told Seven News.

International guidelines state that children are fine to travel 48 hours after birth, but rules vary, with Tigerair’s policy preventing children under a week old from travelling.

Ms Tekiri reportedly spent five hours on the floor of Melbourne airport before Tigerair accepted full responsibility and put them up in a hotel.

A Tigerair spokesperson said human error allowed the first time mother to book her baby on the flight even though he was too young to fly.

Tiger has apologised for kicking a new mum & her 5 day old baby off a Perth bound plane #7NewsMelb now pic.twitter.com/Oq8f4u4zHB

— Christie Cooper (@ChristieCooper7) October 29, 2014