Japan Airlines offers passengers a seat map to avoid babies on board – will others follow suit?
- AirAsia X sells a quiet zone where children under 10 are not allowed, and Singapore-based Scoot has an ‘exclusive and silent’ section on its Boeing 787 Dreamliners barring kids under 12
- Japan Airlines’ move, however, appears to be new and the first example of an airline showing where a child will be sitting on a map
Some travellers would prefer to avoid sitting near a baby when they fly. Now, Japan Airlines has introduced a baby map to help.
The airline notes on its website that when passengers who travel with young children – those between the age of eight days and two years – choose on the site where they want to sit, a “child icon” will be displayed on those spots on the seat selection screen.
“This lets other passengers know a child may be sitting there,” the website says on its “baby travel support service” section.
The feature came to light when traveller Rahat Ahmed took an image of the baby map and thanked the airline on Twitter. “This really ought to be mandatory across the board,” he wrote.
It’s unclear when the carrier introduced the feature. Japan Airlines has not responded to questions about the origin of the child icon or which flights it is used on. It is listed under domestic flights on the website, along with information about child seats, strollers, changing tables and blanket rentals.