How Qantas flights ditched middle seat for coronavirus social distancing

If you board one of the few Qantas domestic flights in Australia, you won't have a neighbour.

Qantas have ditched middle seat bookings on planes because of social distancing.

A typical domestic flight in Australia has a row of three seats either side of the aisle.

But in response to the coronavirus pandemic, the middle seat will now be empty.

Last week a photo on Twitter purported to show a packed Qantas flight heading for Brisbane.

Most Qantas flights have been only flying about 30 per cent full, a Qantas spokesperson told nine.com.au, saying that, "social distancing has been happening by default."

But flights over the weekend had been busier, the spokesperson said, adding that "was the case" in the Twitter photo, which showed passengers sitting shoulder to shoulder.

The spokesperson said there was "no known case of people contracting coronavirus on board an aircraft, anywhere in the world".

Several US carriers, including Delta, are also no longer letting customers book middle seats.

With international borders closed and domestic travel infrequent, the aviation industry has been decimated by the pandemic.

Last month Qantas and Jetstar stood down 20,000 employees, while 8000 Virgin workers have faced a similar fate.

A recent report by the Sydney-based CAPA Centre for Aviation claimed most airlines would be bankrupt by June.

Many airlines are probably already technically bankrupt, or substantially in breach of debt covenants, the report said.

Virgin are reportedly seeking a $1.4 billion government bailout to stay alive.