The greatest nightmare for all travellers on a long-haul flight are crying babies.

But one airline is tackling that issue with some tech wizardry reminiscent of a modern game of musical chairs combined with Minesweeper.

Seat map

Japan Airlines has come up with a seat map.

It essentially shows where young children are seated and may be useful for passengers to strategically choose their seats during the booking process.

An icon will show where young children are sitting

Passengers travelling with children aged between eight days and two years who select their seats on the JAL website will have a child icon displayed on their seats during the seat selection process.

According to Japan Airlines' website, the icon "lets other passengers know a child may be sitting there".

Not the best solution though

However, the tool is not foolproof.

This is so as the icon might not appear if a ticket was booked through a third party, or if there was a change of aircraft, according to the BBC.

Reactions were mixed

Although this JAL feature is not new, it has attracted the attention of international news outlets after venture capitalist Rahat Ahmed tweeted JAL on Sep. 24, thanking the airline for warning him where babies were sitting.

Thank you, @JAL_Official_jp for warnings me about where babies plan to scream and yell during a 13 hour trip. This really ought to be mandatory across the board.

Please take note, @qatarairways: I had 3 screaming babies next to me on my JFK-DOH flight two weeks ago. pic.twitter.com/kQYQFIqqCD

— Rahat Ahmed (@dequinix) September 24, 2019

He also suggested that this should be a mandatory feature across all airlines.

Some people supported the idea, sharing their own horror stories about young children on flights.

I agree. Thank you JAL. If someone has ever been sitting next to or in close proximity to an infant or a child on a flight for several hours where you cannot escape, you get the feeling that death is a good option. From now on, i will choose JAL when possible.

— Eric (@EricM66524480) September 26, 2019

On the other hand, some argued that the map was not strictly necessary.

To lessen the impact of crying babies, one simply need to wear a pair of noise cancelling headphones.

https://twitter.com/sideburno/status/1177290235379666944

Others pointed out that passengers need to show a little tolerance, as parents taking care of young children on flights are already very stressed out.

https://twitter.com/DDubDub21/status/1177214422835707904

Top image from Twitter and Japan Airlines.