1 in 50 chance of finding love on an airplane reveals passenger survey

In the air: Finding love one a plane may be more likely than you think, but the study also reveals many pitfalls. Photo / Getty Images

1 in 50 plane passengers find love in the air. That's better odds than some dating websites.

A new study commissioned by the HSBC bank suggests that 1 in every fifty passengers find the love of their life onboard an aircraft.

This presumably makes up for the other 49 passengers, who seem to have been handpicked to get on your nerves.

Interviewing 2150 people from 141 different countries, participants were asked about the likelihood of meeting Mr - or Mrs - Right while midair. The findings were added to another 6000 passengers surveyed in the US, Hong Kong, the UK and UAE.

The results are surprising not only because (one assumes) most passengers don't get on a plane looking for love but for the unglamorous realities of modern air travel.

Many consider the romance of the jet-setting era to be well and truly dead – quashed by the advent of budget airlines and increasingly cramped economy compartments.

However these findings by HSBC show there's a lot to be gained from striking up a conversation with the passenger next to you.

On the face of it, finding the love of your life in the skies seems like an unlikely proposal but, when it happens, it causes a sensation. Earlier this year #PlaneBae captured an audience of hundreds of thousands of twitter users, after Texan journalist Rosey Blair agreed to switch places with an attractive stranger. It was an incident sparked the "greatest love story" to be subjected to live tweet. However, the odds on this whirlwind romance may have been better than Blair imagined.

#PlaneBae: Texan journalist Rosey Blair livetweeted a midair romance to hundreds of thousands. Photo / twitter.com

The course of midair romance never did run smooth. The survey also revealed that 48% found fellow passengers removing their shoes a big turn off, along with another 65% saying being rude to flight attendants or 46% that drinking too much were also deal-breakers.

Respecting personal space is the golden rule for air travel, but the study reveals this extends to overhead lockers too.

37% listed taking up too much space in the overhead storage as a pet hate. Battles for the shared armrest are a sure way to piss off another 32% of passengers, while falling asleep on someone's shoulder (30%) and snoring (26%) were also unlikely to endear you to fellow travellers.

So, providing you are considerate and don't exhibit one of these many failings, mid-air romance may be more likely than you think.