Airplane seat determined by mood

Social networking is about to reach new heights. Passengers flying with an inventive European airline will be able to pick seats according to their mood.

Latvian-owned airBaltic wants to allocate seats to people who feel like chatting, working or resting, and have called the service “SeatBuddy”.

The first test flights using the service will launch later this month.

Passengers can pick from four different “flight moods” – business talk, easy chat, work or relax. An algorithm will match them up with a like-minded seatmate.

Users can even browse through qualities they’d like in a seatmate. They could pick a companion who speaks the same language, is of a similar age or even works in the same industry.

AirBaltic isn’t the first airline to explore social seating. In December last year, Air France-KLM announced its “meet and seat” program.

This program connects passengers through Facebook and LinkedIn, allowing people to choose a seatmate after browsing through passengers’ profiles.

As the airline industry continues to struggle, many companies are looking to new features and innovations to boost business. Why not be the one to offer it to them?