Flying Etiquette

Flying etiquette has always been a topic of debate.

When you're sitting in the middle seat, who gets the armrest? You're travelling with your kids and you're sitting in different aisles, shouldn't the other passengers move for you? The large burly man sitting by the window keeps on getting out of his seat assuming you're not there, do you tell him to park his oversized bottom? The passenger sitting next to you keeps on looking over your shoulder to read your magazine, do you tell her to go buy her own? The list continues - it's a jungle up there.

Time-changes, delays, overcrowding and lost luggage only compound the problem and continue to test the patience of a polite traveler, which is like an endangered species. These days, air travel is far from civilized.

But, if you're flying with Emirates, there's no need to fret. A brand synonymous with luxury and innovation, Emirates was the first to offer inflight telephony across all classes, individual TV screen on every seat, First Class suites and an onboard Shower Spa, on its A380 aircraft - no need to worry about smelly passengers that clearly need a freshing-up anymore. From its home base in Dubai, Emirates is geographically located within an eight hour direct flight of 75 per cent of the world's population - cutting air travel drastically, ensuring that you won't have to deal with too many uncivilized travelers and truly capturing the essence of connecting people, like their "Hello Tomorrow" campaign suggests.

If you're not fortunate enough to travel with Emirates in business class on your next flight, here are just a few tips on flying etiquette:

Overhead Bins

To avoid the inevitable "space-grabbing rush" and risking limited space for your hand luggage, try to be one of the first to board the plane.

Trading Places

Passengers need to realize that it's not required of them to move if someone asks them to switch seats. Don't swap simply to avoid embarrassment or conflict. There's no point in being nice if at the end of the day you'll be unhappy for the next 8 hours. Only swap seats if it's a legitimate reason like if a mother wants to sit with her child. If a couple wants to sit with each other for a 1 hour flight - they can stand to be separated.

Armrests

Why do people engage in such jockeying? If you're sitting in the window or aisle seats, then you're lucky - you have at least one of your armrests. If you're in the middle, you should even be luckier with two armrests to yourself. Those to your right should just be happy with the armrest on their right, and if you're on the left of the middle passenger simply be happy with your left armrest.