Qantas passengers can now pay £18 to leave the next seat empty

Other airlines such as Etihad and Eurowings have offered seat-blocking in the past

Bye, neighbour: Etihad and Emirates have offered similar options in the past (Getty Images)

Qantas is now offering passengers on its domestic routes the option to block the seat next to them, leaving it empty for the duration of the flight.

The added “Neighbour free” perk costs from AU$30 (£18) on the shortest routes, and the airline says it will offer limited availability on each flight.

Customers will be sent an email 48 hours before their flight offering the option if it is available, and must pay to book it at that stage.

“Neighbour Free cannot be guaranteed as seats may need to be changed for operational, safety or security reasons, even after boarding the aircraft,” says Qantas.

If the seat cannot be kept free, the passenger will be refunded, the airline confirms.

Qantas is not the first airline to enable air passengers to bag extra room on the seat next to them.

In 2017, Etihad Airways launched its “neighbour-free” seat scheme, which gives customers the option of inputting a price they would be willing to pay in order to keep the seat next to theirs empty.

Space-loving flyers were told they could bid for up to three adjacent seats, meaning, if the price was right, they could have a whole row to themselves.

In March 2021, Emirates also launched a scheme whereby passengers could pay to keep up to three empty adjoining seats next to theirs.

“Empty seats will only be offered for purchase at the airport check-in counter prior to flight departure, and costs range from AED 200 to AED 600 (US$ 55 to US$ 165) per empty seat, plus applicable taxes depending on flight sector,” the airline explained in a statement.

“Emirates has introduced this new seat product on the back of customer feedback, addressing the needs of a range of customers seeking extra privacy and space while still flying in Economy Class,” it said at the time.

Sri Lankan Airways offers a similar function within 48 hours of customers’ flight times, and Eurowings offers a “free middle seat” addition to bookings from €10 which keeps the middle seat of the row empty for aisle or window passengers.

Or you could take a TikTok user’s tip and do it for free. In July, one traveller went viral with his clever - but oh so simple - tip for getting more room to yourself on a plane.

Mike Davis posted a video captioned “How to keep seats open next to you on a flight”, gaining more than 2.2 million views and 175,000 likes with his ingenuity.