An Australian pilot has surprised his South American girlfriend by proposing to her in Spanish over his plane’s intercom system.

Video of the proposal, shared yesterday to the Qantas Facebook page , has already been viewed almost 200,000 times.

“Captain Ellis has been a Qantas pilot for 30 years and has made many inflight announcements,” the video’s caption reads.

“But this weekend on QF93 he made a different announcement for a very special passenger.”

The video begins with Mr Ellis rattling off a standard greeting to his passengers via his headset, before breaking form to announce his girlfriend’s presence aboard the flight.

“Her name is Anna. She’s travelling back to South America now to visit her family, and I want to make sure she comes back to me in Australia,” he says.

“So now that I have her complete attention: Quieres casarete conmigo ? Will you marry me?”

The video then shows Anna’s joyous reaction, and within moments Mr Ellis appears in the cabin carrying a bouquet, going down on one knee to present his girlfriend with a ring.

To his undoubted relief, his tearful partner accepts the proposal, before the pair kiss and embrace.