"Fat Tax" for flyers proves popular with passengers

Many flyers feel the extra seat cost is fair

February 2010

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The debate over whether fatter airline passengers should be charged a “fat tax” has been re ignited after Air France had mistakenly been reported as an airline in favour of the tax and that it had already decided to launch the fee for obese travellers on their flights if an extra seat was required. The airline currently charges a reduced fee of 75% of the whole cost of the second seat. Legislation about to be released will say that fat flyers will be entitled to a full refund on the second seat provided their flight is not fully booked.

However, a new poll has revealed that more than three quarters of airline passengers are in favour of such a tax. Less than a quarter of the people taking part in the poll by Skyscanner said they were against such a tax and said they thought fatter passengers should be forced to pay the full price for the additional seat.

Air France has been in trouble of the issue in the past when it was forced to apologise to a 27 stone passenger whose waist was measured at the airport check in counter before he boarded a plane; he was forced to pay for a second seat, took the airline to court and won £5,000 in damages against the airline. Ryanair held a vote online to ask whether its passengers thought it was fair to charge obese passengers an excess weight fee and more than 30,000 passengers apparently voted “yes”

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