Woman checking in at airport in underpants shocks crowd (photo)

A young woman checking into a Virgin America flight brought a whole new meaning to the phrase 'travelling light' when she turned up with just a pair of underpants on her lower half. 

The blonde passenger shocked those queuing behind her at the check-in desk after brazenly speaking to a member of staff with her bottom exposed. 

A picture has since surfaced of the woman online, racking up more than 90,000 views in under 24 hours, the Daily Mail reports. 

Oblivious to the shock of the people in the queue behind her, the otherwise smartly-attired lady, who is wearing a beige blazer and a pair of black ballet pumps, leans against the counter as the member of staff in front of her makes a phone call.

The picture, which was uploaded to Reddit by user Deftones1 with the caption: 'Meanwhile at the airport', attracted plenty of confused comments. 

One person questioned whether the air conditioning had broken down at the airport, because the Virgin America employee also appeared to be suffering from the heat with two electric fans directed at her face. 

A Virgin America spokesperson told MailOnline Travel: 'We're the only airline based in California - and we're known for doing things differently as an airline and for being a bit cheeky ourselves, so we welcome all travelers. 

“With custom-designed, mood-lit cabins and touch-screen entertainment and WiFi at every seat on every flight, we encourage our guests to kick back and relax when they fly us -- our guest clearly took that message to heart.”

It comes just a few months after a former primary school teacher took off her skirt while going through airport security at London Stansted Airport. 

The woman was arrested by police after she undressed in front of a queue of passengers.

The passenger had arrived at the airport just 90 minutes before her flight to Barcelona and said she was among a number of flyers who grew agitated while waiting in the security queue.

After she finally stepped through the body scanner, the passenger was told staff considered her to be dangerous and was accused of being on drugs, so she stripped off in a desperate attempt to show she was not concealing anything on her person.