The last thing you want when you’ve got an exciting, action-packed overseas or interstate trip planned is to pick up a lurgy from a fellow passenger that grinds your holiday to a halt.

Over three billion people travel on airlines each year, which means you might be sharing more than an armrest with your neighbour. Studies have shown that air travel can act as a conduit for the speedy spread of infections and pandemics, and that there is approximately a six per cent risk to passengers seated within two-rows of those with an infectious disease.

But now, thanks to new research, you may actually be able to reduce your chances of picking up an in-flight illness.

A new study, which was supported by Boeing, whose findings were recently released in the scientific journal, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, found that in a fully booked, single-aisle plane, 84 per cent of passengers had close contact with either another passenger or crew member for an average of 24 seconds each.

But where people were sitting made a difference.

Those in the aisle had an average of 64 contacts; those in middle seats had 58 contacts and those sitting next to the window only had 12. And the passengers in the middle of the cabin tended to have more contacts if they left their seats than those sitting in the back or the front.

The researchers boarded 10 transcontinental flights in the United States and found that 38 per cent of passengers never left their seats during flights, 38 per cent left once, 13 per cent left twice and 11 per cent left more than twice. About 80 per cent of people sitting on the aisle moved at least once during their flight.

The study’s lead researcher, Vicki Stover Hertzberg of Emory University in Atlanta said that she would recommend if people didn’t want to get sick that they “get in that window seat and don’t move.”

But reassuringly, the study found that a droplet-mediated respiratory infectious disease was limited to one row in front of or in back of an infectious passenger.

The researchers were also quick to point out that their results shouldn’t be generalised to short-hop flights, international flights, double-aisle cabins or flights with other airlines.

Although it’s not scientifically proven, we think that perhaps if you want to avoid any potential contamination, you may just need to spring for a first-class suite.