This could be the end of tiny airline seats

WHEN was the last time you felt comfortable on a long-haul economy flight? Good joke, right. Well, the shrinking airline seat could soon be a thing of the past.

Plane seats keep shrinking. Picture: Thinkstock

WHEN was the last time you felt comfortable on a long-haul economy flight? Oh yeah, good joke, right?

The case of the shrinking airline seat is getting so ludicrous that aircraft giant Airbus has stepped in and called for action.

It wants the aviation industry to set a minimum standard of 18 inches (45.72 centimetres) in order to improve the comfort of long-haul flying.

That's because an 18 inch limit improves passenger sleep quality by 53 per cent when compared to the 17 inch standard set in the 1950s, according to new research by The London Sleep Centre that was commissioned by Airbus.

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Conditions, including lighting and background noise, were carefully controlled to mimic the experience of a long-haul flight.

"All passengers experienced a deeper, less disturbed and longer nights' sleep in the 18 inch seat," Dr Irshaad Ebrahim from The London Sleep Centre said.

"They went from one sleep stage to the next as you would expect them to do under normal circumstances. Whilst in the narrower 17 inch seat the passengers were affected by numerous disturbances during sleep - which meant they rarely experienced deep restorative sleep."

Despite the population's growing waist lines, most planes still have 17 inch seats, and in some cases passengers have to squeeze into 16 inch seats.

Yes, this is to keep the cost of flying down, which is important.

But is it worth it?

What's more, we're flying further than ever before - the number of flights lasting over 13 hours has increased by 70 per cent in the last five years - from 24 to 41 daily flights.

Kevin Keniston, Airbus' Head of Passenger Comfort said of the results: "If the aviation industry doesn't take a stand right now then we risk jeopardising passenger comfort into 2045 and beyond - especially if you take into account aircraft delivery timetables combined with expected years in service. Which means another generation of passengers will be consigned to seats which are based on outdated standards."

Plane seats keep shrinking. Picture: Thinkstock