Could UK airlines weigh passengers in the future? 58% of Britons want heavier people to pay more to fly

  • The heavier a plane, the more fuel it uses and the greater the cost to airline
  • But the aspect of 'personal space' also highlighted as a factor 
  • Last month Uzbekistan Airways announced it would weigh passengers
  • And Samoa Air became first company to charge people by weight 
  • 'Morbidly obese Americans are often required to book two seats' - Abta

Research has revealed that 58 per cent of Britons would not object to airlines introducing passenger weighing machines at departure gates and charging heavier people more to travel.

Uzbekistan Airways announced last month that they would be introducing weighing scales for passengers to stand on before boarding the plane.

And the airline confirmed that for busier, smaller flights, heavy passengers could be prevented from travelling. 

58% of Britons surveyed said they would not be unhappy if their airline started charging based on passenger weight (file photo)

The latest poll, by Holiday Extras, has revealed that the majority of Brits would not object to the same measures being introduced on the airlines that they use.  

Despite recent grumblings over changes to hand luggage restrictions on a number of airlines, it appears that UK travellers are also far more open to charging extra according to weight than might have been expected.

When asked how they would respond if an airline started charging extra based on weight, 45 per cent of British holidaymakers said that it would make no difference to them, and a further six per cent even claimed the measures would actively encourage them to use an airline more often. 

Just 21 per cent of those polled declared that the measures would force them to boycott an airline.

Size of hand luggage and the weigh often causes to disagreements in the terminal between passengers as well as with staff



The heavier an aircraft, the more fuel it uses and so the more expensive flying becomes for the airline.

Fuel is the highest cost incurred by airlines in the aviation industry 

As more and more people want greater allowance of hand luggage in the cabin, the cabin-weight becomes more of a talking point.

If the load weight of passengers is limited/lighter, could it mean more allowance for luggage? That will be what passengers will be hoping for. 


Ant Clarke Cowell, communications director for the travel website, said: 'There's currently no initiative to weigh customers at check in the UK. Even so, the idea has sparked some lively debate with holiday travellers. 

'When compared to the national findings, Manchester people proved far more likely to react against the introduction of weight checks.

'Changes in airline procedures often do receive an adverse reaction initially, so it's pretty surprising to see that many holidaymakers appear to be tolerant to the idea of weighing passengers at check-in. 

'Personal space is a certainly a very sensitive issue so it will be interesting to see how views about this topic evolve.'

Bob Atkinson, travel expert at TravelSupermarket, believes it is important to see how those airlines who have already introduced such measures fare.

'To get a plane into the air, airlines need fuel. The heavier the aircraft, the more fuel and therefore the higher the cost – and fuel is cited as the largest cost an airline incurs,' he said. 

'According to Office of National Statistics (ONS) figures for 2014, the average British male weighs around 78kg, so a 20kg bag adds one quarter to the total weight, even without hand luggage of around 10kg. The proportion is even greater for women who average 71kg.

'So, if an airline can cut weight by reducing baggage allowances, it can keep prices down. However, going to the next stage of actually weighing passengers as well as baggage is something few of us would want to consider. 

'Uzbekistan Airways announced they would be weighing passengers discreetly on their flights (including those from the UK) from August 2015 for "safety" reasons. 

'We will watch that one with interest.' 

An Abta spokesperson told MailOnline that weighing passengers in the UK is unlikely to become a policy.

The source said: 'Abta does not consider that weighing people at check in would be a practical option for the majority of leisure travel. However in the USA where morbid obesity is a serious problem, people over a certain size will often be required to purchase two seats, the cost of one of these may then be refunded if the flight is not fully booked.

'In addition airlines operating smaller aircraft on domestic routes will often have weight restrictions in place simply because of the fact that aircraft may not physically be able to take off if the passenger load is too high. 

'There is an element of self-policing on this matter already, with people of a larger size upgrading to a more expensive flight category simply because they know that they may have problems fitting into the seats in economy.'


Uzbekistan Airways has announced that all passengers will have to stand on weighing machines with their personal luggage after they have checked in.

The company, who are based in Tashkent, have promised not to reveal the weight of individual passengers. But it will mean some overweight people could be excluded from busy flights on smaller planes if limits are exceeded.

Special weighing machines have been set up in the departure gate zones to weigh people and their hand luggage.

Passengers will be put in three categories - men, women and children.

The company said they needed to know the weights of both people and their luggage because it was important, especially with smaller planes.

Officials of Uzbekistan Airways have said that some overweight passengers will be excluded from busy flights


In a statement they said: 'Uzbekistan Airways airline is carrying out the procedure of pre-flight weighing in order to determine the average weight of passengers with hand luggage.

'According to the laws of the International Air Transport Association, airlines are obliged to carry out regular procedures of pre-flight control such as weighing passengers with hand luggage in order to observe the requirements for ensuring flight safety.



'We appreciate your assistance and thank you in advance for the help in the solution of our common task of flight safety.'

Samoa Air became the world's first airline to charge passengers according to their weight in 2013. This helped manage its on-board weight effectively and enabled costing plans to be more streamlined.

Under the pay-by-weight system passengers input their weight into the online booking section of the Samoa Air website.

Passengers can also add their baggage weight on - there are no separate fees because of excess baggage.

Samoa Air flies domestically and to American Samoa - it is thought the move could encourage other airlines to introduce similar policies.





Could UK airlines weigh passengers in the future as 58% want heavier people to pay more