Passengers flying with Scoot Airlines can be upgraded to the 41-seat “ScootinSilence” cabin in rows 21 to 25 for S$18 (£9), where children under the age of 12 are banned from sitting.

The child-free cabin offers more legroom than the rear section of the aircraft, with a 35-inch seat pitch, four inches more than in economy class.

The budget arm of Singapore Airlines is the latest carrier to introduce a child-free zone on planes.

In February, Malaysian airline Air Asia X launched “quiet zones” on selected flights where children under the age of 12 were banned from the first seven economy class rows on Airbus A330-300 flights to China, Taiwan, Japan, Korea, Australia and Nepal.

The child-free areas contain “special ambient lighting” and provide a “more relaxing atmosphere” according to the Air Asia X website.

Last year, Malaysian Airlines also banned infants from first-class cabins on its Airbus A380 “superjumbo” aircrafts and Boeing 747s, claiming several passengers have complained of noise from crying babies.

Jeremy Clarkson, the Top Gear presenter, recently prompted a strong reaction from Twitter users after he suggested that children should be stashed in the luggage hold during flights.

A survey last month suggested that unruly children remain the biggest in-flight annoyance for the majority of travellers – ahead of drunken passengers, surly cabin crew and over-talkative neighbours.

Nearly a third of those surveyed said they would pay more to sit in a child-free zone while a quarter would pay up to £50 per return flight for the privilege, and seven per cent said they would pay even more.

A poll of Telegraph Travel readers last year also found that nearly 70 per cent would support the introduction of child-free flights.

The Singapore-based Scoot Airlines runs daily services to Sydney and five flights a week to the Gold Coast.