With the rising oil prices eating into profits, saving fuel on flights is a major issue for airlines.
Ryanair have announced drastic actions to help reduce their load, with its in-flight magazine being reduced in size, less ice will be served in drinks and staff have been encouraged to not pile on the pounds.
In a controversial move, Stephen McNamara a spokesperson for Ryain air claimed that every little helped when it came to reducing the weight of the aircraft, including heavy staff.
He said: “We cut costs wherever possible, and the changes will represent a significant reduction in weight.
“We also considered removing armrests, but decided against it. We even encourage staff to watch their weight – with the motivation of appearing in the annual Ryanair calendar”.
The latest policy means that the firm’s in-flight magazine ‘Let’s Go with Ryanair’ will be reduced from A4 to A5 and will double as a menu. Saving the airline thousands of pounds in fuel thanks to the reduced amount of paper.
It is estimated that the carrier will save more than £400,000 in printing costs.
Other measured include reducing the amount of ice on board, and lowering the weight of trolleys and seats.
However not only Ryanair are taking measures to slim down, other airlines have replaced glass wear in first class cabins with plastic, cut the weight of metal cutlery and some airlines have gone to extreme measures by removing phones, magazine racks and rubbish bins.
Mr McNamara said: “Fuel is an integral part of the fare – you can’t fly passengers anywhere without it. We would rather make cost reductions and charge passengers for other services”.
Article by Charlotte Greenhalgh
