Air travel is more accessible today than ever before, but spending several hours in a confined space with a hundred or several hundred complete strangers still requires at least a basic level of consideration. Most rules of onboard etiquette are actually very simple: do not do to others what you would not want them to do to you.

Some of these rules are not written into any regulation, nobody will remove you from the aircraft for breaking them, and the cabin crew probably will not mention them either. Still, following them can make boarding faster, the journey more pleasant, and disembarkation feel less like the start of a 100-metre sprint.

The aircraft has stopped. You still do not need to stand up

One of the great mysteries of passenger air travel remains the question of what people expect to happen if they stand up 0.7 seconds after the aircraft reaches its parking position.

The answer is usually – nothing.

The doors are not open yet, the fasten seat belt sign is still illuminated, and the 15 rows in front of you are waiting to leave as well. Standing hunched under the overhead bin will not get you to the terminal ten minutes earlier.

Wait until the fasten seat belt sign is switched off, then stand up once the rows ahead of you begin to clear. There will be less congestion, less pushing, and fewer strangers’ backsides hovering at eye level in front of passengers who are still seated.

And no, having a connecting flight does not give you the ability to pass through 120 people and a closed aircraft door. If your connection really is critical, speak to the cabin crew.

Boarding Group 4 is not a secret name for Group 2

If the airline boards passengers by groups, the number printed on your boarding pass has a purpose. If Group 2 has just been called and your boarding pass says Group 5, there is no need to block the area in front of the gate in the hope that you will somehow evolve into Group 2.

Many airlines organise boarding by zones or groups and call passengers according to their assigned group.

Stand slightly to one side, let the passengers whose turn it is pass through, and join the queue when your group is called. Boarding will be calmer for everyone, including you.

A small backpack does not need a penthouse

Overhead bins are among the most valuable pieces of real estate on European flights. So do not place a small backpack, handbag, coat, laptop bag and duty-free carrier across an entire bin as if you had just booked a private apartment.

Smaller bags and backpacks that fit should be placed under the seat in front of you, leaving the overhead bins primarily for cabin suitcases and larger pieces of hand baggage.

This is not just a matter of etiquette. Depending on size and seating position, cabin baggage is intended to be stored either under the seat or in the overhead bins, and many airlines explicitly require smaller personal items to be placed under the seat in front.

Aircraft manufacturers also invest considerable effort in increasing overhead-bin capacity precisely because a lack of space for hand baggage can slow boarding.

In other words, keeping your backpack under your legs may cost you a few centimetres of comfort, but it may also mean that somebody else’s cabin suitcase does not have to be removed and placed in the hold.

A closed overhead bin usually means: do not open me

During boarding, a closed overhead bin is usually closed because it is full or because the cabin crew has closed it for a reason.

There is no need to open every single one while searching for mythical empty space.

One small local exception may be familiar to passengers flying on Croatia Airlines’ A220s, where overhead bins can sometimes be closed during boarding even before they are full. In that case, of course, simply follow the crew’s instructions.

Your suitcase, your muscles

Cabin crew are not a baggage-loading service.

If, because of age, injury, a medical condition or another objective reason, you are unable to lift your bag yourself, the crew will assist where procedures allow. But if you can carry the suitcase through half the airport, you can probably manage the final 40 centimetres into the overhead bin as well.

Some airlines state this quite clearly, noting that cabin crew are generally not expected to lift passengers’ hand baggage into the overhead bins except in specific circumstances.

If the bag is so heavy that you cannot lift it yourself, perhaps the real question is whether it should have been cabin baggage in the first place.

The middle seat is punishment enough. Give them the armrests

The passenger by the window gets the window. The passenger by the aisle gets the aisle.

The passenger in the middle gets – two strangers.

That is why one of the oldest unwritten rules of onboard etiquette says that both inner armrests belong to the passenger in the middle seat.

It is not a law. It is not an EASA regulation. But civilisation sometimes rests on exactly this kind of small gesture.

A seat can recline. That does not mean you should launch it backwards

If your seat has a reclining function, you are entitled to use it. But there is still another person behind you, perhaps 195 centimetres tall, perhaps eating, working on a laptop or holding a cup of coffee.

Do not suddenly throw the seat into full recline without warning.

A quick glance behind you and a simple question asking whether it is all right to recline takes only a few seconds. During meal service, it is especially considerate to return your seat to a more upright position, regardless of whether the cabin crew has already asked you to do so.

Your right to recline and consideration for the person behind you can exist at the same time.

If you have the window, you have not bought the entire view

The passenger sitting by the window logically has the greatest control over the window shade, especially if direct sunlight is hitting their face or screen. But during a beautiful approach over the Alps, the Croatian coast or a city lit up at night, it is worth remembering that the other two people in your row may also want to look outside for a moment.

You do not need to spend the entire flight pressed against the window, but do not block it completely with your body as if you were observing a classified military installation.

Naturally, if the cabin crew requests a particular position of the window shade for safety or operational reasons, their instructions take priority over etiquette.

Shoes stay on your feet

While you are on board an aircraft, stay properly shod.

Walking barefoot around the cabin is not particularly hygienic for you, and the passenger next to you may not consider spending a three-hour flight just centimetres away from your bare feet to be part of the experience they paid for.

On long-haul flights, it is perfectly understandable to want to get more comfortable. Bring clean socks and slippers. There is a reason many airlines provide them in premium cabins.

And especially: do not go to the lavatory barefoot. For your own peace of mind, it may be best not to think too hard about what exactly might be on that floor.

The lavatory is not a private wellness area

An aircraft lavatory has only a few square metres, one sink and potentially 150 users. It was not designed for a 20-minute beauty retreat.

Do what you need to do, leave it tidy and make room for the next passenger. Wipe up water around the sink and, if you have made a mess, clean up after yourself as much as possible.

An exception may perhaps be granted if you are flying in Emirates First Class on the A380 and have access to the onboard shower. At that point, you are at least technically closer to a wellness centre.

Headphones exist for a reason

TikTok, a football match, a children’s cartoon, Netflix, a video call or your friend’s ten-minute voice message are not part of the inflight entertainment programme for the rest of the cabin.

If something produces sound, use headphones.

The same applies to video games, children’s tablets and music. Just because you like a particular song does not mean that the rest of the row has agreed to become your audience.

The aisle is not a dressing room

When you board the aircraft and find your seat, try to clear the aisle as quickly as possible.

If you are going to remove your headphones, tablet, charger, book, water bottle, jumper, laptop and three magazines from your suitcase, ideally you should have thought about that before a queue of 40 passengers formed behind you.

Prepare the things you will need during the flight before boarding, or take them out quickly. Then stow your baggage, sit down and allow everyone else to continue boarding.

Faster use of the overhead bins and less handling of baggage may sound like a small issue, but limited cabin baggage space is one of the reasons airlines sometimes have to remove hand baggage from passengers at the gate on full flights.

The cabin crew are not your servants

Cabin crew are on board first and foremost for passenger safety, and then to provide service.

“Please,” “thank you” and a normal tone of voice work just as well at 11,000 metres as they do on the ground.

Mutual respect between passengers and cabin crew is also an important part of a safe and pleasant journey. Ignoring safety instructions is no longer an issue of etiquette; it becomes a safety issue.

You may not like the fact that your preferred sandwich is unavailable, that you have been asked to stow your bag or that service has temporarily been suspended because of turbulence. The person telling you this is usually not the person who made that decision.

When you leave, make the seat at least slightly nicer than you found it

You are not expected to clean the aircraft. That is the job of the ground cleaning team or, depending on the airline’s procedures, the cabin crew.

But you can pick up your chocolate wrapper, empty bottle, tissue and meal packaging and either hand them to the crew or leave them neatly ready for collection.

Lower the armrests, place the seat belt back on the seat instead of leaving it on the floor, and check that you have taken all of your belongings.

That small gesture makes preparing the cabin for the next flight easier. For airlines operating with short turnaround times, every minute saved helps the next group of passengers depart on time.

And one rule that is not etiquette: during an evacuation, everything stays behind

If a situation ever occurs in which the crew orders an evacuation, forget your laptop, the passport in the overhead bin, your Louis Vuitton bag and your wheeled suitcase.

Leave the aircraft without your baggage.

Taking bags during an evacuation can slow other passengers, cause people to fall and even damage evacuation slides.

At that point it is no longer a matter of politeness. It can become a matter of somebody’s life.

In the end, the cabin is not your living room

Perhaps you paid €39 for your ticket. Perhaps you paid €3,900. Perhaps the flight lasts 35 minutes, perhaps 13 hours. In every case, you are sharing the cabin with a large number of other people.

You do not have to talk to them. You do not have to be cheerful. You do not even have to enjoy the flight.

It is enough to remember that your comfort ends where another passenger’s unnecessary discomfort begins.

Wait your turn. Put your backpack under the seat if it fits. Give the middle-seat passenger the armrests. Do not walk around barefoot. Use headphones. Pick up your rubbish. Say “thank you” to the crew. And after landing, remain seated for those terrifying additional 30 seconds until the fasten seat belt sign is switched off.

Nobody will write an article about you because of it. And on an aircraft, that is usually a good sign.