Airline Adds Child-Free Zone On Flights For Travelers Who Want To Avoid Kids

Even if you’re sympathetic to new parents, having a crying baby on your plane can be disruptive, and sometimes downright annoying. Although children can’t be banned from flights altogether (that would be pretty cruel—and just not right!), one airline is looking to provide a safe haven for adults to fly child-free. Indian budget carrier IndiGo just announced that they will now be offering “Quiet Zones” on their planes where no one under the age of 12 is allowed.

IndiGo said in a statement:

“Keeping in mind the comfort and convenience of all passengers, row numbers one to four and 11 to 14 are generally kept as a Quiet Zone on IndiGo flights. These zones have been created for business travellers who prefer to use the quiet time to do their work.”

The move is controversial, as some families believe they should have the right to purchase seats wherever they want. Other people are applauding the new policy, and hope other airlines will follow suit. IndiGo isn’t the first airline to restrict where children can sit: Malaysia Airlines, AirAsia X and Singapore’s Scoot airline have all created kid-free zones in recent years, according to TODAY.

Only time will tell if this catches on broadly across airlines, or if the practice will be poorly received, but in the meantime, if you’re flying on a plane where you think there might be loud children, you might want to just invest in those noise-canceling headphones—and remember you were once a child yourself.

Photo by Lars Plougmann