Actress/singer Holly Valance shuns private jets in favour of commercial airlines as small planes spark a crippling fear of flying.

The Australian star, who is married to multi-millionaire property tycoon Nick Candy, is terrified of travelling in private aircraft and now insists on booking tickets with British Airways or even budget airline Easyjet.

Candy's business includes designing private jets, but Valance has told her super-rich husband she will no longer use his planes.

Valance tells British magazine You, "I have always had a fear of flying and, believe me, it's even worse in a private jet. I wouldn't go as far as to say I would prefer to fly Easyjet but I am happier when I am flying British Airways. I know all the statistics about how safe it is, but it all goes out of the window when I am 30,000 feet in the air and I think, 'I am not a bird, I am not supposed to be up here.'"