Planes of the future to have flip-up seats to squeeze in more passengers

Planes of the future will see the "densification" of passengers, with seats that flip up and the removal of arm rests to maximise space, an aircraft exhibition has revealed.

The Aircraft Interiors Expo in Hamburg showcased a number of ideas that would see more passengers squeezed onto flights.

According to the Daily Mail, British manufacturer Thompson Aero Seating introduced the idea of the 'Cozy Suite,' which would mean seats diagonally positioned to make more room.

French company Expliseat had an idea to reduce the weight of seats rather than their size or position. This would benefit the passenger and could save airlines around £300,000 a year in fuel costs.

Seth Kaplan, managing partner at trade publication Airline Weekly told Los Angeles Times: "There is no question that densification - adding more seats to each aircraft - is an ongoing trend, and there is no sign of it letting up any time soon."

French manufacture Zodiac Aerospace unveiled a set of three seats with one facing forward, one backward and another forward.

Earlier this month, a new report by travel comparison site Skyscanner revealed that choosing and booking a holiday will also become much easier and more sophisticated in the future, allowing us to make virtual reality visits to potential destinations.

At an announcement in London, the first of a three-part series of reports looked at what leisure travel will be like in 10 years' time was discussed.

Skyscanner head of B2B, Filip Filipov, said: "This report focuses on three main trends that we believe in the next 10 years will affect travel profoundly."

He said he believed that virtual reality would provide be a way of window shopping so that people could directly experience their destination before they went.

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