Airlines are refusing to help research into "economy class syndrome" and are failing to offer travelers enough warning about the potentially fatal condition, according to scientists.
Researchers from Britain, Australia and the US say companies have declined or ignored requests for information to help their studies into deep vein thrombosis (DVT).
Sam Shuster, emeritus professor of dermatology at Newcastle University in England, told BBC-TV's Panorama program that he had asked British Airways for access to passengers in 1996.
BA refused, writing: "Most passengers do not wish to get involved and are simply keen to get on with their journey."
"There is the added difficulty that we have to tread carefully because as a commercial organization we have no wish to imply that flying might be bad for one's health."
In all, five scientists told Panorama that companies had refused to help their research.
"It would be very easy for airlines to send out a letter to those on their mailing list asking for volunteers for studies into bloodclots, but they don't want the problem to come out into the open," said Farrol Khan of the Aviation Health Institute, a medical charity promoting the health of passengers.
DVT -- dubbed economy class syndrome because it is more likely to occur in the cramped conditions found in cheaper airline seats -- is estimated to affect up to one in 10 long-haul passengers.
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