IndiGo becomes the first in the world to give women option to not sit next to men

A major airline will give women the option of not sitting next to men in a world first. 

From August, low cost Indian carrier IndiGo will allow female travellers to check online the gender of the person they are sitting next to. 

This will allow women to book seats next to other women if they wish to not be seated next to men. 

Men will not be shown the gender of the passengers when booking their seats.

IndiGo is a codeshare partner of Qantas and the airline is used by Australians when travelling to India and within the country. 

The novel idea came from an IndiGo survey that asked female passengers what would make travel more comfortable for them.

Separating the sexes on transport is not uncommon in India with local trains having female-only carriages.

In 2018, Qantas told staff to use 'gender appropriate' terms and avoid saying 'husband and wife' because it may offend the LGBTQA community. 

The airline also told employees to stop using words such as 'honey, darling and love' because they have the capacity to offend.

An information package was sent to staff by People and Culture group executive Lesley Grant.

'Always using the terms 'husband­' and 'wife' can reinforce the idea that people are always in heterosexual relationships,' the information pack read.

'In the same way, always referring to 'mum and dad' can make many families feel excluded — both same-sex couples and single-parent families.'

Former prime minister Tony Abbott said it was political correctness that had 'gone over the top'.

'I've been on hundreds of Qantas flights over many, many years now. Qantas staff are very good people,' he said at the time.

'They are decent, sensitive people, they've got to deal with just about every possible type of person, and they don't need this kind of nonsense, they really don't.'

IndiGo is one of India's largest airlines with more than 2,000 domestic and international flights daily.