Thursday 4 April 2013

Airline Becomes First To Implement "Pay As You Weigh" Flights


Samoa Air, the Pacific national airline, has become the world's first to implement "pay as you weigh" flights, leaving overweight passengers paying more for their seats.

The airline will now allow passengers to nominate their weight when booking their flights.
Upon their arrival, passengers are then weighed again on scales at the airport, to check that they were not being under-generous with their estimations.

"This is the fairest way of traveling," chief executive of Samoa Air, Chris Langton said.
"There are no extra fees in terms of excess baggage or anything – it is just a kilo is a kilo is a kilo."



Now, analysts believe other airlines around the world are likely to follow suit – especially as the rising weight of populations adds to fuel costs. 


Like many Pacific island nations, Samoa has problems with obesity and, as such, Mr Langton believes his airline's new payment policy will also help promote health and obesity awareness.


Mr Langton said he believed it to be a system of the future, and added that "the standard width and pitch of seats are changing as people are getting a bit bigger, wider and taller than they were 40 to 50 years ago".
He also pointed out that families travelling with small children could end up paying far less with the pay-by-weight scheme.


Some airlines in the United States already force obese passengers who cannot fit in a single seat to pay for two seats, but this is the first time a per-kilo rate has been used by an airline.


So if you were not thinking about losing that extra pound, this is the time to hit the gym...

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