/ 21 January 2008

Most Aussies want to join ‘mile-high club’

Almost 60% of Australians are either members or want to join the ‘mile-high club’ — where membership is gained by having sex on an aircraft, a survey released Monday said.

Asked whether they would consider making love at altitude, almost half of the 1 110 surveyed by a travel website said they would but had not yet satisfied their desire to engage in a sky-high encounter.

Twelve percent said they were already a member of the club which includes British actor Ralph Fiennes who last year grabbed headlines with his sex romp with a female Qantas air hostess in a business class toilet cubicle.

The airline later sacked the woman over the encounter she had described in a lurid confession to the British press as a “10 out of 10” experience.

The company behind the survey, totaltravel.com, said Australian travellers were more daring than expected.

“People are obviously looking for more stimulating entertainment than a movie or a CD when travelling by plane,” global marketing manager Paul Fisher said.

“Mind you, with the advent of the new A380 super jumbos, some boasting configurations with full-sized standalone beds, earning one’s stripes is a lot easier than it once was.”

Forty-two percent of those questioned, however, said the prospect of getting hot and sweaty in a cramped and potentially stinky aircraft toilet was no turn on. – AFP