If you pay for your excess baggage in flights, would you be willing to pay for your excess body weight?
In a survey, nearly half of British travellers indicated that if carrying excess luggage weight is taxed, so should the carrying of excess body weight.
Holiday Extras, the UK-based travel company that conducted the survey, has announced that 48 percent of the people asked in a survey were of the opinion that overweight passengers should be charged extra for flights. While 51 percent of the men polled stated that you should pay a price for carrying excess body weight, 43 percent of women agreed with the proposition.
Excess weight in flights is related to more consumption of air fuel, and is taxed by most airlines. Ryanair, an Ireland-based low cost airline, has previously mooted the controversial ‘Fat Tax’ issue, when a poll conducted by the airline saw one third of its passengers voting for the surcharge.
James Lewis, head of online partnerships at HolidayExtras.com, said, ‘The world is getting fatter – and this is becoming a big issue. Being an overweight passenger affects your travelling companions, physically and financially. If we have to pay extra for excess baggage, it’s only fair that we pay extra for excessive body weight.
Sitting next to an obese person on a plane can sometimes reduce the space that you have to relax, so maybe airlines should offer some of the revenue from the additional ticket cost to the person sitting next to the fat person too.’
