Unwritten air rules

We all know the explicit rules in an airport: your luggage must not exceed 23 kg, smoking is not allowed on board and you cannot bring fruit and vegetables that could bring the plague on your trip (always check with customs). However, there are some tacit rules too, rules that everyone should follow just to make the flight more enjoyable. The journey through the air is stressful and the last thing you want is for everyone to get angry. So keep that in mind the next time you're in the air.

There are no hours for alcohol (but don't get drunk)

Airports are probably the only places in the world where you can drink at 7am without eyebrows. It may be 7 a.m. at the airport, but your brain is on different time zones. It's still 5:00 somewhere!

Do not take off your socks.

Don't take off your socks! Don't do it! Don't do it! Shoes are fine, but keep these socks on unless you want to break the silence of your neighbouring passengers. It doesn't matter if you think you don't feel feet or have a nice pedicure. No one wants to see your bare feet walking down the aisle! And especially not in the toilet cabins! Mushrooms for everyone?!

Use headphones all the time

The noise of the plane is quite unpleasant, so don't add to it by pushing the volume of Despacito all the way to the small speakers of your phone, in the middle of the flight. For the mental health of your fellow human beings, use your headphones at all times.

Don't break passenger ears

Yes, travelling in the air can be a lonely journey, but if someone is clearly not interested in listening to you, don't start sharing pictures of your 20 cats and dogs waiting for you at home. Fido is certainly very cute, but few people are interested in how he learned to bring the ball back, especially when there are 5 hours left in the flight. And for heaven's sake, don't try to pick up the neighbouring passenger. Airlines are not dating services!

Travelling with children? Lower your voice.

Being a parent is hard and flying with a young child makes work even more difficult. However, you owe it to the passengers to at least try to keep calm. Do you remember the little one who made the headlines last year for shouting for 8 uninterrupted hours on a flight from Germany to New York? It's ugly.

Don't become a Fidgeter

Yes, we all know that sitting for hours in a cramped place is exhausting and sometimes we can't help but use the Fidget Cube. But please use this tool as little as possible. We're all on the same boat, uh, plane, and you wriggling this cube can start to annoy other passengers.

Obey the hierarchy of the armrest.

Everyone agrees that the worst seat is the one in the middle. You are stuck between two passengers, you have a bad view and you are forced to climb another passenger to go to the toilet. But at least you have an armrest, two to be exact, unless your neighbour starts a turf war with you on the property of the armrest. There is a hierarchy for these things:

• Middle seat: you have full access to both armrests.
• Window seat: you have easy access to the aisle and toilets.
• Alleviated seat: you have easy access to the aisle and toilets.

You can't joke about this natural order!

Do not move during take-off/landing

Some people are too eager to move out of their seats when the plane lands or takes off. Don't be that person. It doesn't take much to stay still and wait a few minutes before you can go out, just relax! We know you can have a connection, but turning the landing into a time trial will not do you any good. It's the same thing when you take off, stay seated. You don't need to go to the bathroom right away (unless you have stomach problems. So it's going to be a difficult flight, good luck).

Saving nefarious vapour travellers

The cabin air is constantly redistributed, yes there is shared fresh air, but pollute the air in the middle of the flight and the smell will never seem to disappear. So spare passengers from harmful vapours and do not take something that stinks on board. Yes, your Coco Chanel Mademoiselle may have cost you 190€ but imagine sitting in a cloud of it for 7 hours in a row. With, without any windows around, that's enough to make you want to kill someone!

Hold your pets!

Speaking of toxic fumes, hold back your farts! That goes without saying, but people do it anyway! Yes, it is uncomfortable, but you owe it to others or at least you can hold yourself to the toilet! Don't drop a cloud of farts when everyone is sleeping. Believe me that am enough to wake the dead! Just follow these rules and everything will be fine. Maybe not everything will go as planned, but follow these rules and you will make the flight less hellish than usual. However, the joy of the trip makes us forget all the troubles of the flight, or almost all the problems of the flight. Flight delays are coming. You can be reimbursed up to 600 euros in compensation. This is valid if your flight has been delayed, cancelled or overbooked within the last three years.