Legroom to cost more on airlines

Airlines have now started to charge a supplement for extra legroom

December 2008

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Last month a couple of airlines have decided to start charging economy passengers a surcharge for sitting in the roomier seats located near the emergency exits.

Air France and Singapore Airlines have both started charging a supplement on transatlantic and long haul routes. In the past these seats have been allocated on a first come first serve basis, always an incentive to get to check in early but now you can request these seats online by making a payment to reserve these seats.

Air France charges £42 each way on flights to the USA and Singapore Airlines charges £32 per flight on all flights excluding short haul routes. So if you were travelling to Australia and having to change planes then your cost with Singapore Airlines would be £64 each way.

Both airlines have been positive in this move saying that customers will welcome this new initiative and James Freemantle from the Air Transport Users Council conceded that it was not necessarily a bad thing as passengers will be paying for a better service.

However this is another clear sign that airlines are feeling the pinch but while scheduled airlines have not ventured into charging for extra legroom in the past, charter airlines have been doing this for some time. For example Thomson Fly which offers 28 – 30 inches as standard on short haul and 33 inches on long haul offer a surcharge option for more legroom and have been doing so for nearly 10 years.

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