1 in 50 people finds love on an airplane, study claims

There can be few more irritating people than your fellow airplane passengers – but apparently there’s still a chance you’ll fall in love with them.

A new study from British bank HSBC suggests that 1 in 50 airplane passengers meet the love of their life on board an aircraft. The other 49, presumably, just annoy the heck out of each other as they travel.

The results came from interviews with 2,150 people from 141 countries in which participants were asked about the likelihood of meeting “the one” while cooped up in a metal tube 30,000 feet in the sky. Some 6,000 people from Hong Kong, the United Arab Emirates, the United States and the United Kingdom were additionally also quizzed on their flying habits.

Opportunities for romance

Centenary celebrations: 2019 will mark 100 years of international air services operated by British Airways and its predecessor airlines -- including Aircraft Transport and Travel, pictured left, which operated what's considered the world's first daily international passenger, mail and parcel service -- between London and Paris in 1919. Pictured here: Aircraft Transport and Travel poster by MB, 1919, and Imperial Airways by an unknown illustrator circa 1926.

Changing trends: 70-year-old Paul Jarvis, former Assistant Company Secretary at British Airways and now Curator of the BA Heritage Collection, has compiled a book of eye-catching posters from the past 100 years -- charting changing trends in aviation in advertizing. Pictured here: Imperial Airways poster by Steph Cavallero 1935 and Imperial Airways poster by Shurich, 1935.

Public appetite: "The posters have always been a particular interest of mine," Jarvis tells CNN Travel. "We have about 1,200 poster artworks in the collection, and a few other quite important artworks as well." Jarvis felt there was a public appetite for these posters and decided to put them together in a book. Pictured here: Imperial Airways poster by James Gardner, 1938, and Imperial Airways poster by Stanley Herbert, 1935.

Evocative images: Jarvis is the author of the new book: "British Airways: 100 Years of Aviation Posters," published by Amberley Publishing in association with British Airways. "There are so many evocative, gorgeous posters," says Jarvis. Pictured here: British Airways poster by unknown, 1936, and British Airways poster by Marshall Thompson circa 1936.

Stunning showcase: In the book, Jarvis showcases the posters and provides context about the story behind them. "The very early days it was very much just about persuading people to fly at all," he reflects. "There were quite a lot of people who thought flying [...] was just a passing fad." Pictured here: British Airways poster by unknown artist 1936, and BOAC and Qantas poster by Stanley Herbert, circa 1947-50.

Personal favorites: Jarvis says he can't choose a favorite poster in the book: "The front cover one I particularly like as an artwork in itself, by a very well known French artist Albert Brenet," he says. "But how do you choose, because there are many others like that as well." Pictured here: British South American Airways poster by Gwynn, 1946, and BEA poster by unknown circa 1949.

Stunning designs: In a book full of stunning posters, there are some designs that stand out including the image on the right. The British Overseas Airways Corporation (BOAC), one of BA's predecessors, used Walter Herz's original Olympic artwork to promote traveling to London for the games. Pictured here: BOAC poster by Abram Games, 1948, and BOAC poster by Frank Wootton circa 1952.

Explorations: Era-wise, Jarvis says the 1960s speaks to him from a personal level (that's the decade he started working at BA). "But from a purely [...] archival perspective it has to be the 1930s," he adds. "Because all the explanatory work that was [being done], new aircraft coming in." Pictured here: BEA poster by unknown, 1953, and BOAC poster by unknown, 1953.