A new survey has revealed that passengers want to be insulated from their fellow passengers – especially children – when travelling by air.
The survey of 1,000 passengers by flight search site Skyscanner asked passengers what in-flight facilities – realistic or otherwise – they would ideally like to see onboard aircraft.
Interestingly, far from choosing social features such as a bar, the top choice among passengers was capsule-style beds, chosen by 20% of respondents. This desire for peace and quiet was underlined by the fact that the second most popular pick was sound-proof areas for kids (18%) and anti-kick seats (8%).
“As a parent, I’ve flown with my one-year old child long-haul between Skyscanner’s offices in Edinburgh and Singapore and can understand the stress that travelling with children can bring for both the parents themselves and others seated around them,” said Skyscanner’s Director for Asia Pacific, Ewan Gray. “So I’m not surprised that sound-proof sections and anti-kick seats score so highly on the list. It’s just a shame that for most of us flying economy class these luxury features will have to remain a dream.”
The fourth most popular choice was massage chairs (8%), following by free iPads (5%), which are beginning to appear on some airlines, including Singapore-based Scoot.
Clearly not all flyers are vertigo sufferers, as transparent floors and ceilings was the sixth most popular choice (5%), while a dedicated ‘singles section’ received 4% of the vote, allowing unattached passengers to flirt onboard. Showers, an onboard cinema and a cocktail bar rounded out the top 10.
