The aviation industry has long used the frisson of flirtation to sell flights, beginning with strict “glamour” criteria for cabin crew on the first commercial flights and continuing through to recent sexy advertising campaigns from airlines such as Virgin.

Now a survey from flights comparison site Skyscanner has revealed our romantic associations with flying are still going strong with the trend for “flyrting” – the practice of passengers flirting while flying.

The survey of over 1,000 travellers revealed that 45 per cent of passengers admitted to flirting while on board a flight, with a third leading to a rendezvous following the flight, and eight per cent of them resulting in a relationship.

Skyscanner employee Karin Noble, a former cabin crew member remarked: “More and more people are now travelling by air so it’s no surprise that flights have become a place to flirt. After all, you are sitting next to someone for an hour or more, and the fact that you’re both travelling to the same place means you already have something in common.

“Add this to the heightened effect that alcohol can have at altitude and the more relaxed ‘holiday mood’ that many travellers feel, and it tends to give people the courage to flirt with a fellow passenger or even take things further, especially on long haul routes such as flights to Australia.”

More shockingly, for a small minority the flirtations may actually lead to membership of the infamous Mile High Club; a separate survey found that 20 per cent of travellers have joined this risqué association and half of these had done so with a stranger they met on a flight.

For those that are not members, however, it certainly still seems to appeal with a massive 95 per cent of those surveyed admitting they would like to join the Mile High Club, while a Valentine’s Day survey showed that six per cent of men claim this was their ideal gift.

However, a UK firm offering “Mile High” flights was recently shut down by the CAA after just two years of operation, as they weren’t satisfied that on board safety criteria were being met, and feared the in-flight action could be ‘too distracting’ for pilots.