Tag: seats

Airline Passengers Vent Concerns Over Extra Wide Airline Seats

Airline passengers feel that a move by Airbus, an aircraft manufacturer, to offer extra-wide seats on its A320 family of aircraft, is unfair, reports UK-based flight search engine, Skyscanner.

Previously, Airbus announced that it is considering the replacement of some of its standard A320 aircraft seats, measuring 18 inches wide, with new extra wide aisle seats that have a total width of 20 inches. The new seats will be offered in rows where regular seats will be reduced to a width of 17 inches.

Around 1,000 people have responded to s survey conducted by Skyscanner, and over three-quarters of them, or 84 percent, have reported that they feel that it is unfair to make passengers squeeze into a smaller seat so that the airline can benefit from the sale of more expensive, larger seats. Although none of the airlines that will be offering the bigger seats have announced a new price structure, a parallel can be drawn with how airlines have traditionally sold seats with extra legroom for a premium, so the assumption is that they will also be selling the extra wide seats at a premium price.

The survey has also highlighted that around 84 percent of passengers feel that the extra wide seats must be subject to an extra charge.

Sam Poullain, the spokesperson for Skyscanner, said, ‘The issue of charging more for bigger seats is a contentious issue as it gives airlines a financial incentive to reduce standard seat sizes. Airbus’ new extra-wide seat format is a clever way for airlines to generate more revenue, but it’s inevitable that some passengers will feel hard done by as they’ll be losing an inch from their seat widths.’

Airline Passengers Favourite Seats Revealed

If your favourite seat on an aircraft is row 6 seat A, then you are certainly not the only one to express that preference. Around 45 percent of airline passengers polled also favoured seat 6A, according to a survey conducted by a UK-based flight comparison site, Skyscanner.

The survey polled around 1,000 airline passengers across 40 countries worldwide, asking for their seat preferences onboard flights, and it revealed that around 60 percent of the air passengers polled have a preference for window seats, compared to 40 percent who opted for an aisle seat, with less than 1 percent opting for a middle seat.

The front of the aircraft proved more popular with passengers than the back, with the most favoured seat, 6A positioned well to the front, while no one wanted seat 31E, a middle seat at the back of the airplane.

Skyscanner’s travel editor, Sam Baldwin, said, ‘There is always a great rush to get on board and get that favoured seat and I think it is really interesting that there are so many differing opinions on this.

Anecdotally some passengers seem to opt for the middle section near the wings where they are less likely to feel turbulence while others want to be near the front for ease of getting off the plane, less engine noise or even to get a better choice of food available. The window seems a popular choice for those looking to sleep, especially for long haul flights, while those who take more trips to the toilet prefer to aisle so as not to disturb fellow passengers, and the aisle is also popular for tall passengers looking to stretch their legs.’

Ryanair plan on having just one toilet per plane

 Ryanair have revealed plans that will leave up to 200 passengers using just one toilet.

 

The plan for just one bathroom per plane will allow six more seats per plane.

 

The plans will take the ‘no frills’ air travel to a new level, but according to Ryanair boss Michael O’Leary, the change would lower air travel by around five per cent.

 

The plans are controversial and will leave passengers in long queue or crossing their legs and hoping for the best.

 

Two out of the three toilets will be removed from the planes and replaced with six more seats in order to provide cheaper fares.

 

Ryanair only use one type of plane, the Boeing 737-800, each plane hold 189 seats – at present this is the maximum allowed.

 

A spokesman for the Association of British Travel Agents said: ‘We all know how inconvenient it can be if a toilet on a plane is out of order. This move could be a step too far.’