If I put "Aviation" as my interest, can I sit next to this spunky airBaltic pilot?

You can thank Latvian airline airBaltic for this great step forward in the evolution of flying. Soon, Latvia’s national airline will have a ‘seat buddy’ system in place that will allow passengers to choose who they sit next to for the duration of their journey.

The free service even allows passengers to add interests and hobbies their profile, allowing niche demographics to network and chat during the flight. Passenger details and profiles will remain confidential and the airline will automatically provide seating allocations before the flight.

Will menopausal middle aged woman take advantage of this new service so they can discuss hormonal treatments amongst their peers? What about heroin addicts – perhaps they can muse over the latest batch doing the rounds in Northern Europe? Perhaps our gay brethren can find their one true love (in the absence of Grindr at 30,000ft)?

Michael Grimme, Senior Vice President Sales and Marketing of airBaltic said:

We are delighted to introduce this new service, as our customers can be seated next to like-minded travellers. We are launching this as a free-of-charge additional service, and at the same time exploring its future commercial potential.”

Whatever your demographic or niche this could be a novel way to jet around Europe. I don’t hold out much hope for the ‘intelligent seating’ service. KLM tried a similar program and it didn’t get much attention besides media interest. Is this just a marketing ploy from airBaltic?

Will you give it a whirl?