Air India will designate female-only seats on its domestic routes, after a number of women were allegedly groped by male travellers during flights.

From January 18, six seats in the third row of economy class cabins on its Airbus A320 aircraft will be reserved for female passengers who don’t want to be seated next to men.

The seats, which will be offered without any additional fees, will only be available for female passengers travelling alone, Ashwani Lohani, the chairman and managing director of Air India told The Hindu.

It is yet to be revealed whether the airline will offer segregated seating on its international routes too.

The seats, which will be offered without any additional fees, will only be available for female passengers travelling alone Credit: Getty

“We feel, as national carriers, it is our responsibility to enhance comfort level to female passengers,” said Meenakshi Malik, Air India’s general manager.

“There are a lot of female passengers who travel alone with us and we will be blocking a few seats for them.”

Last week, the carrier – India's third largest – also announced it would be keeping plastic handcuffs on board all flights to restrain unruly passengers during situations that become “totally out of control”.

The airline is said to be among the first in the world to offer women-only seats, but several trains, metros and buses in India already offer seats reserved for women Credit: Getty

“We used to carry restrainers only on our international flights but will now have them on both domestic and international flights. All our aircraft will have two pairs of restraining devices,” Air India’s chairman told The Times of India.

“Restraining a pax (passenger) is one of the last steps and should be done only if the matter is totally out of control,” Air India’s cabin crew manual states.

Both moves were announced after two incidents of male passengers reportedly groping women on Air India flights over the past few weeks.

On December 21, a woman on an Air India flight from Mumbai to Newark, New Jersey, said a male flier groped her while she was asleep. The male passenger, who was originally seated in business class, reportedly changed his seat to sit next to the female flier in economy class before the incident took place.

Less than two weeks later, a female flight attendant said she was molested by a male passenger on board an Air India flight from Oman to Delhi.

Both men were reported to local police upon landing.

“In-flight misbehaviour is on the rise in recent times,” a senior official told the Times of India.

“Our pilots adopt zero tolerance for offenses like sexual harassment, both of air hostesses or flyers, and hand over offenders to law enforcing agencies on landing.”

The airline is among the first in the world to offer women-only seats on its flights, but several other forms of transport in India – such as trains, metros and buses – already offer seats or coaches solely for female travellers.

The new seat offering was met with reservation by some local officials, including former Air India executive director Jitendra Bhargava who described it as a “misplaced priority”.

Last month, a female Air India flight attendant (not pictured) alleged she was molested by a male passenger Credit: Getty

“To my knowledge, this happens nowhere [else] in the world. Planes are not unsafe for women passengers. In case of unruly behaviour, the airline crew are authorised to take action as per the law,” the former Air India executive told The Hindu.

“It is an impractical move and will lead to gender discrimination. The airline should not go ahead with the plan,” said D. Sudhakara Reddy, national president of Air Passengers Association of India.

The latest development isn’t the first controversial measure taken by the airline. Last year, it warned 600 of its 3,500 cabin crew to lose weight within six months or risk being taken off flights.

Last year, China's Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport (not pictured) introduced three security lanes solely for female passengers to help those uncomfortable with the scrutiny of male guards Credit: AP

In 2013, Air India said that deploying female flight attendants rather than males could save them about £329,000 per year in fuel costs because they are lighter, while back in 2009 the airline grounded 10 flight attendants who failed to slim down.

Last September, China’s Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport introduced three pink-coloured security lanes solely for female passengers to help those uncomfortable with the scrutiny of male guards.