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Older air passengers twice as likely to prefer aisle seat than young flyers

Some 43% of a survey’s respondents aged 65 and above said they would like to sit next to the aisle if flying solo.

Neil Lancefield
Tuesday 06 May 2025 11:47 BST
Older airline passengers are nearly twice as likely to prefer a plane aisle seat than younger travellers (Alamy/PA)
Older airline passengers are nearly twice as likely to prefer a plane aisle seat than younger travellers (Alamy/PA) (Alamy/PA)

Older airline passengers are nearly twice as likely than younger travellers to prefer an aisle seat on a plane, a survey suggests.

Some 43% of the poll’s respondents aged 65 and above said they would like to sit next to the aisle if flying solo.

That is compared with just 22% of those aged 18-24.

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The average across all ages was 35%, with 53% preferring a window seat.

One in 50 (2%) respondents said their preference would be for a middle seat.

Additional optional charges for seat selection have become an important revenue stream for many airlines.

– The survey of 4,282 UK adults was conducted by YouGov on May 2.

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