PRNewswire LONDON November 10:

New survey reveals top in-flight irritants
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Air passengers find children more annoying than drunks, “arm rest huggers”
and nosy neighbours, according to new research released at the World
Travel Market today, 10 November, by Gulf Air. Almost 47% said noisy or
badly behaved children were the biggest irritant when travelling by plane,
beating obnoxious odours (20%), drunk passengers (16%), “seat-recliners”
(13%), “arm rest huggers” (10%) and people making unwelcome advances or
conversation (7%).

Kids should be seen and not heard
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More than 2,000 people were questioned in a nationwide survey on
travelling by air with children, and keeping kids amused for both the sake
of the parents and fellow passengers is top priority. When asked what was
their greatest concern when travelling with children, parents and
guardians overwhelmingly said that it was keeping children occupied during
the flight (68%). Twenty per cent were most worried about their children
upsetting other passengers, which outranked other concerns such as
children being ill (17%) or children going missing (14%).

Most parents seem to plough on bravely with travelling by air with
children, with over half saying nothing puts them off. Almost a third are,
however, deterred from flying long haul with children.

World`s first sky nannies to come into service
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In a direct attempt to alleviate these issues Gulf Air is introducing the
world`s first Sky Nanny service at London`s World Travel Market this week.
The first `batch` of Gulf Air flight attendants trained in nanny
techniques by the world famous Norland College, are ready to introduce the
sky nanny service for all passengers between London, Bahrain, and Abu
Dhabi and the Bahrain-Sydney route starting on 23 November.

Pleasing passengers
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It`s not only parents that the new Gulf Air Sky Nanny will please. Fellow
passengers voiced strong views about in-flight kids. Fifty two per cent
said “they are fine most of the time, but the noise can be ear-splitting!”
A further 16% said they couldn`t stand children on-board saying “I cross
my fingers that they aren`t sitting anywhere near me”. A heart-warming 19%
said kids could be entertaining during a flight and 13% said they loved
kids and welcomed them onboard.

Whatever the irritants, air travel is still popular for parents and
guardians. Nearly half of respondents (47%) said they travelled with
children with 65% of these parents or guardians saying they normally
travelled with more than one child. Currently, the older the child, the
more likely a parent or guardian is to travel - 63% travel with 8-10 year
olds, 33% with 4-6 year olds, 24% with 2-3 year olds and only 11% with
under 1s.
- Tickbox.net research was conducted between 31 October and 4 November
amongst 2,050 UK adults.

- One of the first Gulf Air Sky Nannies will be in Britain to meet the
press at 11.10am on Monday, 10 November with Gulf Air Chief Executive
James Hogan, at the Gulf Air stand (ME 3060) at the World Travel Market,
ExCel, Docklands.

- Gulf Air was founded in 1950. Today, it is owned by the Kingdom of
Bahrain, the Sultanate of Oman and the United Arab Emirates, and is the
only truly pan Gulf airline in the region. The airline`s network extends
from Western Europe to Asia and covers 45 cities in 33 countries. The
fleet is one of the most modern in the Middle East and comprises 33
aircraft.
Gulf Air - Sponsor of the Gulf Air Bahrain Grand Prix

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