Up in the air about intimacy

Very much related to the seat issue is who you sit next to... Who hasn't fearfully glanced up the aisle waiting to see who will be your new neighbour for the next several hours of your life?

Scott Lee, Executive Director of Synovate in Hong Kong, said the crux of the issue here for most people is the forced intimacy.

"Sharing your personal space with strangers is not something that many people look forward to. Still, air travellers in some markets seem quite ok with it – perhaps even relishing the chance to meet new people – while people in other markets like Hong Kong seem to want to shut down and avoid others."

The study asked people to agree or disagree with a series of statements, one of which was 'I prefer sitting next to someone of my own sex'. Overall, a little over one third of respondents agreed with this (34%). The highest agrees were from Hong Kong (65%), Malaysia (57%) and Thailand (53%).

Of course it's interesting to see a gender breakdown on this... and sure enough, women are far more likely to answer in the affirmative than men. Forty-four percent of all women travellers say they want to sit next to someone of their own gender, while only 24% of men do. In Hong Kong, 78% of women want to sit next to another woman.

"There are a couple of factors at work here. One may be awkwardness between men and women – in some markets sexual tension, and in others, related to religion – plus it must be said that men seem to always take the arm rest and as much leg room as possible... often without thinking about it. No wonder women want to avoid us," Mr Lee said.

But not everyone avoids social contact. The study also asked whether respondents agreed with the statement 'I enjoy making conversation with the people sitting next to me' and, overall, 57% agree. People from Malaysia and the Philippines most like a chat (77% and 74% respectively) and those from Thailand (60% disagreed), Taiwan (58%) and Hong Kong (57%) do not.

It turns out that flying in Asia is a minefield of potential mile-high mishaps.

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> Transactional travel or sky-high service?

> The seat of power

> Children shouldn't be seen, or heard

> Air travel to nose dive?

> How can an airline fly high?

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