Hot To Go? Why Are People That Much More Attractive On Transport

The 'airport hot phenomenon' is a pseudo-science that claims people seem more attractive in, on, and around public transport. At terminals, on trains, in stations - are places of travel really potential hotbeds for unexpected love - or is this just a romantic delusion?

A chatty, 26-year-old Londoner, Stefan* has always felt fairly confident speaking to strangers at airports. He got his first number when he was only 17, after two thirty-somethings insisted on inviting him for drinks at a terminal bar. "I have one of them on Instagram still, we still chat and share stories," he says.

Since then, he's had a fair few airport flirt stories - cheek smooches at an airport bar in Ibiza, flirtations at a smoking lounge in Milan. Each interaction resulted in swapped numbers, and the occasional few dates. "In the airport people are in a good mood, and they have nothing to do. I never book a seat on a plane, it's fun to see who you end up next to," he says.

"In the airport people are in a good mood. I never book a seat on a plane, it's fun to see who you end up next to."

Stefan points out that people are generally happy at airports, which makes them more attractive. There's an added buzz of adventure in the air. "It's all so random and depends on different variables. If you do sit next to a fit person, what are the odds? You may as well have a conversation with them."

Perhaps a factor for airport romances is that people are putting more effort into how they look as they travel. Stefan goes for comfort, without sacrificing his sense of style - a look recently dubbed by The Observer as the "airport aesthetic", a quiet luxury style that feeds into the era of the travel influencer: "You can see... the appeal of planning and styling an airport outfit, especially in an era where looking comfortable and relaxed is associated with wealth and status," points out writer Shaad D’Souza.

So everyone is looking good and feeling more attractive before hopping on a plane, making the airport fertile ground for budding romances. But what if we take the theory of travel attraction onto different forms of transport? New Zealander, Y*, decided to prolong her three-month backpacking trip after her friends went home, and booked a bus ride from Porto to Lisbon.

"If you sit next to a fit person, you may as well have a conversation with them."

Aboard the Flixbus, she nudged past a stranger to get to her seat. Encouraged by the romantic backdrop of the lime green bus, the two chatted throughout the four-hour journey. They arranged to meet later at Festas de Lisboa and join throngs of carnival-goers. "He was in a blue wig. We promptly spent the night together only to make out ONLY once, then I couldn’t take it anymore and ran away."

While long-lasting love wasn't found, they did spend hours of time together - with a cheeky smooch thrown in. Would she have spoken to the guy if they hadn't met on transport? That's a definite no. "If I saw him wearing those Keds in real life on a first date, I definitely would not have gone to meet him at the street party."

Would she have spoken to the guy if they hadn't met on transport? That's a definite no.

So perhaps there's something about the act of physical movement that gets sparks flying. Samantha Jayne, dating expert and relationship advisor in the US' The Bachelor told lifestyle media DMARGE that it comes down to the "element of mystery" that travel implies, "you wonder what is their final destination?". Meanwhile, Swedish sex therapist Leigh Norén told Business Advisor that the busy, crowded nature of travel terminals imply physical closeness - which is one of the "fundamentals of attraction".


That's precisely why Teresa, a 26-year old Venetian, finds herself daydreaming about potential airport romance. "You're enclosed in a small shared space, and it's hard not to notice an attractive person sitting just a few feet away," she says. She also puts it down to boredom, "when you're alone and you have nothing to do, it's easy for your mind to wander."

Perhaps the idle time of the repetitive commute is what made Henry*, a 34-year-old Londoner, catch the eye of a fellow commuter on the London overground. They kept glancing at one another and exchanging smiles. She stood up, hovered next to him, and got off the train. "I nearly let her go as it wasn’t my stop, but I didn’t want a 'what could have been' on my hands," he said. Impulse took hold and he rushed after her. The two dated for months.

"The literally sliding doors moment of us nearly not exchanging numbers meant the good time we had together was leant an extra special quality."

"There was definitely a charge to the relationship because of how we’d met. The first date in particular was memorable. It was strange and sexy meeting up with someone I knew literally nothing about - versus a dating app where you’re practically going in with a list of biometric data," he says. "The literally sliding doors moment of us nearly not exchanging numbers meant the good time we had together was leant an extra special quality."

Henry and his train lover didn't work out, but he holds good memories. He offers a word of advice "mainly for men": "just because someone looks at you doesn’t mean they want to shag you. You might have a tube map above your head."

"It was strange and sexy meeting up with someone I knew literally nothing about - versus a dating app where you’re practically going in with a list of biometric data,"

Travel also entails a lot of waiting around - and boredom. Cue an impromptu romance to pass the time. Carina* was travelling from the Caribbean to London when a stranger slipped past her spot on the aisle to get to the middle seat. She glanced at him, and decided to leave her headphones off, willing conversation. He proceeded.

As his brother was the captain of the plane, the crew were intent on supplying them with booze, setting the scene for an awkwardly positioned make out sesh. "We had a smooch, much to the disapproval of the poor lady on the other side of him."

"We had a smooch, much to the disapproval of the poor lady on the other side of him."

The two swapped numbers at Heathrow, where he stayed in London and she went up to Glasgow. They saw each other a number of times, but the romance eventually fizzled out. She gives the airplane setting all the credit for the fling: "I'm not sure I would have picked him out in a club but there was some immediate chemistry on the plane. It felt a bit like a movie, which adds to the romance."

We can all find love in a hopeless place - whether it be a Flixbus, airport terminal, overground train or a transatlantic flight. The fact that none of Trippin's interviewees found everlasting love further proves the airport hot theory correct: people just seem hotter on the move.

There's a number of factors that verify the phenomenon: the atmospheric what-ifs of liminal spaces, the physical intimacy between passengers, the tension of idle time, the quietly-styled look of the airport aesthetic - all wrapped into travel's inherent sense of adventure. Now a seasoned veteran in airport hookups, Stefan recommends anyone looking for a flighty romance to simply start chatting to people: "Don't be afraid to say hello to the person next to you, or let them say hello to you. If it happens, it happens!"

*Sources have requested to be anonymous