British Airways has joined other major airlines and will introduce a non-binary gender option for passengers.

When booking a flight, those not identifying as either male or female will find a new gender option to select.

British Airways follows suit

The largest airline in the UK has followed in the footsteps of US companies Delta, JetBlue, United, and American Airlines.

Air New Zealand has also announced they are going to provide gender-neutral options.

‘We know how important it is for all of our customers to feel comfortable and welcome no matter how they self-identify,’ a spokesman for British Airways said.

‘We are working to change our booking platform to reflect this,’ he also added.

‘A big move’

Six airlines confirmed on 15 February they are in the process of adding ‘undisclosed’ or ‘unspecified’ to their gender options. There may also be the optional title ‘Mx’.

The proposal received an enthusiastic welcome.

‘It’s a big move,’ Julia Ehrt, of the International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Association (ILGA), told the Thomson Reuters Foundation.

‘Persons presenting as gender non-conforming or trans persons who might not have been able to change their name or gender markers in passports regularly have serious challenges in traveling,’ she also said.

‘That can range from being challenged about your gender marker or first name upon check-in or at security, through to outright denial of being able to board a plane.’

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