For those of us excluded from first class, there's usually precious little to look forward to on long-distance flights. There's those pretzels that taste like Worcestershire sauce, the fact that the toilet flushes a blue colour and maybe even a showing of Cheaper by the Dozen 2, but beyond that a long flight has just been something to get through rather than enjoy. But that may be about to change with the advent of a new website called AirTroductions.com.
The site aims to introduce like-minded air travellers, so you can spend your flight from New York to London discussing business, holiday plans or the relentless downward trajectory of Steve Martin's career.
Travellers sign up for the website, submit a profile and photo and enter details of their itinerary before taking a flight. They are then given the profiles of any other members taking the same flight and can arrange to sit next to each other on the plane. Signing up for the site is free, but there's a small fee for each match.
The site has grown rapidly since it was set up in 2005, and more than 12,000 people from 50 countries have now signed up to the service.
Peter Shankman, the founder of AirTroductions, got the idea for the site when he ended up sitting next to Miss Texas 2002 on a flight to Houston. "Airline flights are one of the few situations where you find yourself wedged against a total stranger for hours at a time. It might as well be someone you like," he says.
Gemma Delahaye, a charity worker who regularly flies from London to New York, is one traveller considering using the service: "On the last flight I took, I was stuck next to a businessman who detailed his latest business trip in excruciating detail. The time before that I was with a fellow charity worker who I had a lot in common with. It would be nice to choose the type of person I have to sit next to for seven hours."
There's also good news for anyone that prefers to spend their flight in silence, eschewing any kind of conversation - one of the options for a travelling companion is "someone who won't talk to me at all".
