{"id":185724,"date":"2025-06-15T06:47:16","date_gmt":"2025-06-15T06:47:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/185724\/"},"modified":"2025-06-15T06:47:16","modified_gmt":"2025-06-15T06:47:16","slug":"flight-anxiety-the-simple-solution-for-anyone-who-has-a-fear-of-flying-travel-tips","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/185724\/","title":{"rendered":"Flight anxiety: The simple solution for anyone who has a fear of flying | Travel tips"},"content":{"rendered":"

Every week, 9Travel shares a top travel tip<\/a> from our readers or our writers. Have something to share? Email us at travel@nine.com.au<\/a> for a chance to be featured in an upcoming story.<\/p>\n

If you have a little bit of fear or trepidation when boarding a flight<\/a>, you’re not alone – according to Australian Aviation, one in three<\/a> Aussies have aviophobia, also known as a fear of flying.<\/p>\n

And the absolutely tragic crash of an Air India flight<\/a> this week has likely left even more people feeling concerned about air travel.\ufeff<\/p>\n

\"SacredOne in three Aussies have a fear of flying. (Getty)<\/p>\n

\ufeffThere are many different ‘remedies’ out there for tackling travel anxiety<\/a>… but which methods actually work?<\/p>\n

Some people swear by medication or sleeping pills to conk out and wake up on arrival. But according to many travellers who have dealt with a serious fear of flying, the best way to cope with it is by facing the fear head-on. \ufeff<\/p>\n

Recently, a user asked<\/a> the Reddit Travel Hacks community to share their best tips for nervous flyers, ahead of his wife’s first plane trip.<\/p>\n

\"Sandals\"\/<\/a><\/p>\n

One thing flight attendant would ‘never ever’ wear on a plane<\/p>\n

The number one comment, which many agreed with, said that his wife should prepare herself before the trip.<\/p>\n

“Step her through every part of the process in advance so knows what to expect,” the commenter wrote, adding that she should watch YouTube videos of the security screening process and airplane boarding process.\ufeff<\/p>\n

\"TravelersGetting acquainted with the boarding process can help. (Getty)<\/p>\n

Another person wrote that “\ufefflearning about the experience, rehearsing it in her mind, taking a trusted companion, and getting small exposures” is the best way to tackle fear.<\/p>\n

They added that taking medication to dull their nerves \ufeff”prevents the opportunity to experience, learn, and integrate new experiences”.\ufeff<\/p>\n

In fact, there’s even a business dedicated to this type of exposure therapy for nervous flyers. \ufeffDial-a-Pilot gives travellers the chance<\/a> to have a phone call with a real-life pilot before their trip, where they can ask questions and have their “what if” fears quelled.<\/p>\n

\"RearUnderstanding how planes work can really help with anxiety. (Getty)<\/p>\n

“[The pilot] answered every single question I had about the plane itself, different scenarios, plane sounds, turbulence, going through storms, and even the route you are travelling on,” one holidaymaker tells 9Travel about using the service.<\/p>\n

“I was a lot more at ease, and with the knowledge they gave me, most of my fears were gone as I had answers to all the scary questions.”<\/p>\n

Another great tip shared on Reddit for the man with the nervous wife was to communicate every step of the way. “Airports can be chaotic and stressful, so if you’ve travelled a bit, be sure to keep her updated with the whole process.<\/p>\n

“Things like where to take the bags, how security works, or other things that regular travellers don’t even think about. Make sure she doesn’t feel ‘left out’ of knowing what is going on, or what to do next.”<\/p>\n

\"MainWatching planes take off and land can also help. (Getty Images\/iStockphoto)<\/p>\n

One other traveller in the same boat took their wife to a viewpoint near an airport, where you can watch planes land and take off, as a good way to get her head around it.<\/p>\n

“I told [my wife]to watch how stable the planes look,” one person recounted.<\/p>\n

“None of bobbing around or suddenly dropping like you see in movies. Everything is smooth, steady, and working as it should.”<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

Drop us an email with all your wisdom to<\/strong> travel@nine.com.au<\/strong><\/a>, and your tip could be featured in an upcoming story on 9Travel.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"\/<\/a><\/p>\n

The best hikes to do around Australia this winter<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Every week, 9Travel shares a top travel tip from our readers or our writers. Have something to share?…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":185725,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4317],"tags":[105,218,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-185724","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-mental-health","8":"tag-health","9":"tag-mental-health","10":"tag-uk","11":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114686043560535714","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/185724","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=185724"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/185724\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/185725"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=185724"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=185724"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=185724"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}