The Independent reports that budget airline VivaColombia is considering plans to remove all seats from its planes and make passengers stand. They hope the move will drive down fares by allowing them to squeeze more passengers into each flight, opening up air travel to working class Colombians and budget holidaymakers.

VivaColombia's founder and CEO William Shaw told the Miami Herald the airline was looking into vertical travel options. He said:

"There are people out there right now researching whether you can fly standing up – we're very interested in anything that makes travel less expensive."

He added: "Who cares if you don't have an inflight entertainment system for a one-hour flight? Who cares that there aren't marble floors… or that you don't get free peanuts?"

The concept is not new and airlines have been toying with the idea of standing sections on flights for years. In 2003 Airbus came up with an idea of allowing passengers to be braced in a vertical "seat".