lifestyle

Someone just came up with the most awkward idea for plane seating ever.

This seating plan makes airport pat-downs look appealing.

In the never-ending battle to fit more people on to planes, a French company has come up with possibly the worst seat design ever. (Yep, even worse than the old ‘standing room only’ concept.)

Zodiac Seats France filed a patent for a seating design where passengers have to face each other, with the middle seat in a row of three reversed, Sky News reports.

That’s a whole lot of staring at a complete stranger.

In a promotional video for the ‘Economy Class Cabin Hexagon’ seating, the company brags, “Forget the elbow fights.”

Related: This is how a sneeze travels at 30,000ft.

They just forget to mention that the reason there will be no subtle wrestling over the shared arm rest is because there aren’t any.

Instead, passengers can rest their elbow on the leg of the person opposite you (seriously, it looks pretty cramped.)

They’ve even ditched the regular tray table (despite that it folds up and takes up hardly any room), replacing it with a cup holder.

Although the fold-down seating for easier access is a good idea.

Check out the promotional clip (post continues after video):

The design fits an extra 30 people into the cabin.

And, if it becomes a reality, not only will plane travel involve sitting in annoyingly close proximity to a stranger, you will also be staring directly at them as you try to suss out whether or not the fart smell floating around the pressurised cabin emanated from them.

Let’s hope this idea gets nipped in the bud pronto.

Got the travel bug? Try these articles:

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Would you travel on these seats?