Air Line Weigh In - You And The Bag On The Scales!

[jake-the-peg]

Samoa air - A country with one of the world's biggest obesity problems has started a flat air fare rate per kilo.

You, the bag, the kids doesn't matter you pay the price per kilo for the route

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-22001256

Good scheme?

Would you fly with a carrier that wanted to weigh you?

Will Ryan Air be annoyed at being beated to the idea?

[AB Editor]

"look at Ryan Air, so called no frills, yet has more add ons than firefox."

Excellent!

[emmie]

i thank you...

[emmie]

i wonder if they have covered everything, lol


http://www.ryanair.com/en/terms-and-conditions#article8-baggage

[friedgreentomato]

What add ons do they do that Aer Lingus, Easy jet etc don't?

[emmie]

i am glad i stay home -

What is covered by Taxes, Fees and Charges in my reservation?

Taxes, Fees and Charges are calculated by reference to the government taxes and airport taxes/charges payable by Ryanair on a particular itinerary. These may include government taxes, airport taxes/charges and passenger service charges. Additionally, Ryanair may charge an online check-in fee, a special assistance levy, an aviation insurance levy, flight delay/cancellation levy (EU261 Levy) and in some cases passenger security charges.
Explanations of the taxes, fees and charges are detailed below:
Fees and Charges imposed by the Government and the Airport

UK Air Passenger Duty (APD) - Taxes such as UK APD levied each passenger on all flights which depart from a UK airport. The fees are as follows:

£13 (GBP) per person for each UK domestic flight (£26 on a return UK domestic flight)
£13 (GBP) per person for flights from the UK to an EU/EEA airport

Government Tax - These are refundable government levied air travel taxes which are payable in certain countries (e.g.UK, Ireland, Germany). A refund administration fee applies to all applications click here for details

Passenger Service Charge/Airport tax - This is a charge made by the airport authority to an airline for the use of the terminal, runway, emergency services, security facilities etc. In some cases this charge also includes the cost of passenger and ramp handling at the airport. This non refundable charge is made on a per passenger basis and varies from airport to airport.

Other Fees and Charges

Aviation Insurance Levy - This aviation insurance surcharge was introduced after the 9/11 terrorist attacks. Governments no longer covered airlines for acts of terrorism and consequently airline insurance costs rose dramatically. The charge is €5.99 per passenger/per flight and similar measures have also been taken by airlines worldwide.

PRM Levy (passengers with reduced mobility) - This charge is €0.50 cent per passenger/per flight for the provision of special assistance services at airports for passengers with reduced mobility..

Flight Delay/Cancellation Levy (EU261 Levy) – This charge of €2.50/£2.50 per passenger/per flight has been introduced to defray the unrecoverable costs incurred by Ryanair when flights are delayed or cancelled following ‘force majeure’ events such as the volcanic ash airspace closure, adverse weather, air traffic control strikes, failure of airport infrastructure, unexpected aircraft technical problems etc. Upon reform of EU Reg. 261, to include an effective right of recovery clause and a non discriminatory “force majeure” clause then we will reduce and/or eliminate this levy altogether.

ETS (Emission Trading Scheme) Levy– This charge of €0.25/£0.25 per person/per sector has been introduced to meet the costs imposed by the European Union on air passengers (but not train/ferry or coach travellers) under its 2012 Emissions Trading Scheme. Ryanair believe that European aviation should not be included in the ETS scheme since it accounts for less than 2% of the EU’s man made CO2 emissions. This new ETS tax is the latest in a long line of cost increases imposed on Europe’s air passengers by the European Commission.

Administration Fee - To defray the substantial costs incurred by Ryanair managing and maintaining our reservation system an administration fee applies to each passenger per flight. All bookings will incur a €6.00/£6.00 administration fee per passenger/per one-way flight.

[emmie]

no idea, but you can't refer to your business as no frills, if you have endless add ons, they get away with it because they can. If people want to fly, they have to pay. Funny in a way.

[237SJ]

The weight is calculated by an average per passenger so the thin ones offset the fat ones so to speak. Likewise, the fat person might not have any baggage in the hold while the skinny ribs sitting next to them might have 23K in the hold. It all tends to pan out in the end as far as fuel costs are concerned. Passengers were being weighed a few years ago because people are getting larger and they wanted to get the fuel figures right. TWR started a thread about it and despite some rather factual comments, it was pulled for some reason.

[emmie]

not so much that but if you, small, against them, big, are squished together, then you, small, are not going to get much room, sleep, if its long haul.

[ummmm]

Em - it is no frills. You know what you are getting. They state a price and you pay that price if you adhere to the rules of that price. There is no hidden charges, they are well displayed.

[237SJ]

If someone`s that fat, they should purchase two seats together or go business. I was talking to a rugby player recently who played for Samoa. He said he was on an Air New Zealand flight across the Pacific and they ran out of extension seatbelts as everyone was as big as him. Those Samoans are pretty big people.

[emmie]

well Ed liked it, and some don't, what can one do. x

[emmie]

this isn't a court room, and having flown ryanair once, i wouldn't do so again.

[Clanad]

To expand on grasscarp's earlier good answer... Samoa Air isn't actually an airline in the sense tha most are accustomed to. That is, they operate under what, here in the U.S. would be called 'Air Taxi' or 'Charter' rules, simply because they use much, much smaller airplanes.

Here's a quote from their website:

"...Samoa Air operates a fleet BN2A Islanders, and a Cessna 172 - The Islander is one of the best-selling commercial aircraft types ever produced in Europe, over 750 are still in service with commercial operators around the world. The excellent Short Take-off and Landing (STOL) performance of the Islander is well suited to the conditions and all airstrips in the Samoa Islands and the region."

Here's a picture of the BN2A 'Islander" aircraft:

http://www.planespotters.net/Aviation_Photos/photo.show?id=370574

They seat 9 passengers (pax in airline parlance) and fly about 120 MPH. Perfectly safe, but the weight limits are pretty severe when considering reserve fuel... even in good (Visual Flight Rules or VFR) weather. Hence, they can't use the standard "average" passenger weight limits that the larger aircraft are allowed to use.

The BN2A probably can carry about 2200 pounds or so of passengers, bags, cargo, crew (usually just one) and fuel. Fortunately, their leg lengths (take-off to landing) aren't that long... probably just a couple hundred miles at most...