It strikes fear into non-parents everywhere - being stuck behind a screaming child or baby for an entire flight.

Well now it seems fed-up plane passengers are willing to put comfort ahead of savings to guarantee them a flight free of crying, tantrums and endless seat kicking.

In fact it's so irritating one third of passengers would pay extra to ensure they were on a child-free flight, with 22 percent listing a child kicking their seat as their biggest gripe, a survey by UK TripAdvisor found.

A further 22 percent admitted parents not controlling their children or not disciplining them when they were being loud was the next biggest gripe.

Opinion was divided on whether to keep children out of the first and business class cabins with 34 percent for the ban and 36 percent against.

Malaysia Airlines banned children from the upper flight deck of their A380 planes in April.

The airline had already banned babies from the first class section on its A380 and 747-400 fleet last year after receiving a number of complains about crying infants last year.

At the time it said an adults-only cabin would help ensure a more enjoyable flight for business travellers who have to fly in economy.

But not all complaints in the TripAdvisor survey were directed at child flyers.

Aggressive seat recliners remained the biggest irritant when flying for 29 percent of passengers.