A small Irish company has produced a revolutionary aircraft cushion capable of reducing the risk of travellers developing potentially fatal blood clots on long-distance flights.

Longhaul Technologies has developed a special cushion which will be featured for the first time in an aircraft next month. The Taiwanese airline, Air China, will include the cushion in its new multi-million dollar A340-300 Airbus aircraft to be launched in April.

The company based in Little Island, Cork, employs seven people and is on the verge of signing a deal with an Asian and a European airline.

So-called "economy-class syndrome", where passengers develop deep vein thrombosis from sitting for hours in cramped conditions, has caused concern following a number of deaths in recent months.

The managing director of Longhaul Technologies, Mr Morgan Connolly, was in Tokyo this week participating in the Enterprise Ireland trade mission to Japan. He told The Irish Times he had discussions with companies in Tokyo which would lead to other contracts for his new product.

The Longhaul cushion consists of two airbags and moulds to the passenger's body to reduce seat pressure points, thereby allowing better blood circulation. It enables passengers to stretch their legs for exercise with comfort. This compares with conventional seats, which put pressure on veins during such exercises.

This week a group of the world's largest airline carriers met to look at measures to reduce the instance of deep vein thrombosis. A Japanese doctor has claimed that 25 people including a pilot have died in the past eight years at Tokyo's Narita airport due to blood clots caused by cramped seating.

The company received an Irish Times innovation award for the product last September.