AirAsia X, a long-haul carrier based in Malaysia, plans to become the second airline in the world to ban children from certain sections of the plane.

Starting in February, Air Asia X will create a "quiet zone" in the first eight rows of the economy section of its fleet of A330 planes. The zone will have special ambient lighting, will ask passengers to keep noise to a minimum and will ban children under 12 years old.

Malaysia Airlines last month introduced a similar child-free section on the upper deck of its new A380s, flying between Kuala Lumpur and London.

On AirAsia X, there will be no extra charge for seats in the "quiet zone."

On its website, the airline said the child-free section will be offered because "we know that sometimes all you need is some peace and quiet for a more pleasant journey with us."

No U.S.-based airline has a child-free section, but a recent survey conducted by the website SeatGuru.com found that 40% of U.S. travelers said they would pay extra to sit in a designated "quiet" section of the plane.

"It will be interesting to see how effective the 'quiet zone' will be in living up to its name since it doesn't appear to be separated from the rest of the economy cabin," said Jami Counter, a senior director at SeatGuru.com. "A screaming baby could easily be seated right behind a business traveler in the last row of the 'quiet zone' section."