Airline to Begin Offering Child-Free Seating Sections
A survey conducted earlier this year found that nearly 60 percent of American adults would prefer planes and trains to have child-free zones. To solve the common travel complaint, one European airline is changing the way it seats its passengers on long-haul flights.
Turkish-Dutch company Corendon Airlines just announced that it's implementing adults-only seating areas on flights between Amsterdam and Curaçao. According to a statement from the airline, it will be physically separated from the rest of the aircraft with walls and curtains, "creating a shielded environment that contributes to a calm and relaxed flight."
The area will consist of nine XL seats with extra legroom and 93 standard seats, all available for a fee on top of your ticket price. If you want some peace and quiet, be prepared to fork over an extra €45 (about $49) for a standard seat and €100 (roughly $109) for an XL seat. "This zone in the aircraft is intended for travelers traveling without children and for business travelers who want to work in a quiet environment," the carrier detailed.
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These special flights will begin taking off on Nov. 3 and run on Airbus A350-900 aircraft. Corendon Airlines founder Atilay Uslu was proud to announce the new seating arrangements for the route.
"On board our flights, we always strive to respond to the different needs of our customers. We are also the first Dutch airline to introduce the Only Adult zone, because we cater trying to appeal to travelers looking for some extra peace of mind during their flight," he said. "We also believe this can have a positive effect on parents traveling with small children. They can enjoy the flight without worrying if their children make more noise."
Corendon is a pioneer in this area in Europe, but it's not the first global airline to use these special seating arrangements. Singapore-based low-cost carrier Scoot has Scoot-in-Silence cabins on its 787 flights. AirAsia X has Quiet Zones on its A330 long-haul flights. And back in 2012, Malaysia Airlines created child-free zones in some of its coach-class cabins and banned infants in first class on its jumbo jets.
The issue of children making too much noise on airplanes is an age-old debate that regularly leads to viral meltdowns. Many fliers have requested child-free options, although others have defended parents who make the best of a tough situation when dealing with children in confined spaces for long periods of time.
The question now is which U.S. airline will jump on this much-demanded trend next.