Cash-strapped air stewardesses in Japan are reportedly turning to prostitution in order to supplement decreasing wages.

Several unnamed flight attendants have been quoted in the Shukan Post claiming that female cabin crew are regularly paid to sleep with the pilots.

According to the women, staff can charge between £300 and £450 for 90 minutes with a client.

Several unnamed flight attendants have been quoted in the Shukan Post claiming that female cabin crew in Japan are regularly paid to sleep with the pilots

In Japan, becoming a flight attendant - known as a soochoowadesu - is a dream come true for many women.

Tens of thousands of young women apply for jobs as cabin crew with the country’s major airlines.

The reality, however, is poor pay and long hours and according to the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, salaries for Japan’s flight attendants have slumped significantly over the past decade.

Air hostesses in Japan have even seen their wages cut from £28,000 a year in 2004 to just £22,000 in 2013.

One stewardess, is quoted by the Tokyo Reporter as saying: ‘Stewardesses who are willing to do it with a pilot pass their number to a senior stewardess who is effectively a female pimp.

According to the Shukan Post, stewardesses may take up part-time work with escort service that specialise in offering clients air stewardesses

‘There is also a system where the pilots use hand signals to tell the hostesses they are interested, and how much they will pay.

‘Other stewardesses outsource their services through companies, some of which specialise in offering air hostesses.’

During pre-flight checks, the stewardesses line up before the pilot and co-pilot.

As the briefing proceeds, the pilots allegedly drop signals with their fingers.

According to the stewardess, four digits raised to the nose indicates an offer of 40,000 yen, around £225, for an overnight stay at a hotel.

According to the women, staff can charge between £300 and £450 for 90 minutes with a client

According to another stewardess, those under 30 are able to charge the highest amounts for their services.

‘We have an expiration date,’ said a 29-year-old, who is also involved in an escort service that specialises in offering clients stewardesses.

According to the magazine, other stewardesses may take up part-time work as party companions or bar hostesses in Tokyo’s ritzy Ginza district.

A 30-year-old attendant told the Shukan Post that rumours of a ‘prostitution circle’ had begun several years before she joined an airline in 2007.

When upper management got wind of the operation, the ringleader was terminated, it was claimed.