You can pay Qantas to reserve the next seat for free.

Some airlines left the middle seat vacant in the early stages of the epidemic in order to maintain social distance.

That was never going to last, and now that prices for short- and medium-haul travel are almost back to where they were in 2019,

This indicates that it's pretty nearly impossible to get an empty seat next to you on an economy flight,

which was the wish of the majority of travellers.

However, not if you're a lucky Qantas traveller who has been invited to reserve the open seat

next to you for the princely amount of A$30 ($20), which varies depending on the length of the flight.

On its domestic flights, which are mostly operated by Boeing B737s, Qantas is eager to sell any available tickets.