As the father of two young children, I quite like the idea of one Dutch carrier to create an adults-only zone onboard in which children under 16 will not be permitted. It is good business opportunity and presents a practical solution to the bellyachers who complain bitterly about children on airplanes.
Adults-Only Zone On Airplane: A Concept Worth Exploring
As noted by One Mile At A Time, Dutch carrier Corendon Airlines will add a child-free zone on its Airbus A350-900 on flights between Amsterdam (AMS) and Curaçao (CUR) starting in November 2023. There are 432 seats onboard, all of them economy class.
The first 11 rows of the aircraft will be designated as the adults-only zone (between doors 1 and 2 with a galley behind) which total 102 seats, about 25% of the seats onboard. These seats will come at a premium:
- €45 one-way to sit in the adults-only zone in a standard seat (93 seats)
- €100 one-way to sit in the adults-only zone with extra legroom (nine seats)
Corendon Airlines says this is to appeal to “business travelers” and those “who want to work in a quiet environment.” Atilay Uslu, the founder of Corendon Airlines, explains:
“On board our flights, we always strive to respond to the different needs of our customers. We are also the first Dutch airline to introduce the Only Adult zone, because we cater trying to appeal to travelers looking for some extra peace of mind during their flight. We also believe this can have a positive effect on parents traveling with small children. They can enjoy the flight without worrying if their children make more noise.”
A Win-Win Situation For All Travelers
My son Augustine has had one bad flight (Zurich to San Francisco) and I am thankful that everyone was understanding onboard. But it was a miserable flight for me and if I could redo it, it would have taken much of the pressure off to fly in a cabin specially designated for children.
Not only does this initiative represent a great ancillary revenue opportunity for the airline, but it forces people to “put up or shut up” in the sense that the bitter louts who complain about babies will now have a path of escape…if they pay up. Will they or will they remain behind to save €45 and still bitterly complain?
Put another way, this initiative will hopefully stop complainers in their tracks, because they now have another option. And we’ll see how well-behaved the front cabin turns out to be, since in my experience it is (drunk) adults who are the worst offenders onboard in terms of behavior.
CONCLUSION
Those who don’t want to sit next to kids can choose Corendon Airlines and pay a bit more to guarantee a “tranquil oasis” in the forward-most cabin. This is a win for all travelers and an initiative that I think we could see spread to more carriers in the months and years ahead.
And for those who think that there already should be an adults-only zone on aircraft called business class (or first class) I would encourage you to charter your own jet…
The bigger issue is that plane is all economy class
That’s why I won’t fly it!
All Economy is not an issue at all. It’s the way it should be. I have no use for the privileged few who think it’s their God given right to have a premium seat.
It’s my God given right to use my hard earned money how I see fit and I choose to spend it on premium seats.
I like the idea of an adults only zone in theory, but I don’t like this particular execution of the concept.
Even when traveling with children, we almost always sit in the front of the airplane because my wife and daughter have less air sickness when traveling in the front.
Also, it’s not specified here, but those wishing to pay for more legroom may also be traveling with children– you don’t suddenly become short-legged by having kids. Thus if the extra legroom seats are only in the adult zone, that is punitive to long-legged parents.
I’ve long said, fill from the front with adults, fill from the back with children accompanied by adults. If there are any seats left keep a zone between them. Do it in all classes.
Corendon are making money out of it.
Flew the airline from Berlin to Bodrum and had a good experience. This should all be extra leg room seats, seems step to pay just for the chance to avoid children. There should be some extra guaranteed.
I’d be fine with paying a premium on a long flight. Twice this summer on United I got seated next to a parent with a lap child, and both were miserable experiences. In fact, for some reason, United seemed to have far more children onboard this summer than American did. Might just have been my bad luck.
This concept existed a long time ago in the far east with Singapore airlines subsidiary Scoot. Called Scoot-in-Silence, kids below 12 are not allowed in that zone.
https://travellingonpoints.com/article/airlines/scoot/scoot-in-silence-the-kid-free-zone-on-budget-airline-scoot/
I’m more worried about the mental age of the schmucks I sit next to than the physical age. I’ve met ‘adults’ who act worse than my 4 year old niece will on a plane and often times will talk if not scream louder than a toddler. Creating an adult only zone will not improve anything unless I suppose you include a test to determine if they’re mentally a toddler in a grown adult body
Some have said “it won’t exist for long – space is the most precious commodity on any aircraft”.
Scoot introduced it several years ago… and it’s a really good revenue earner. ScootinSilence is available on all Dreamliner-operated flights, even those to / from Europe. So… 33 seats on their B787-8 and 45 seats on B787-9.