London, July 1 (IANS) Irish budget airline Ryanair has a novel idea to cut costs. Standing seats at four pounds a head. And how will it pay for these? By charging passengers a pound for using toilets aboard.
The airline plans safety tests for the ‘vertical seats’ early next year. Around the same time, it will also start charging passengers every time the toilet is used.
According to its plans, the back ten rows of seats will be removed from the carrier’s 250 planes and replaced with 15 rows of vertical seats. Two toilets at the back could also be removed to free up even more space. Between 40 and 50 extra passengers will be able to travel on each flight if the plan gets the go ahead, enabling Ryanair to cut its own costs.
The revenue generated from charging passengers to use the toilet would pay for the new vertical seating.
In the new vertical seats, passengers will still be restrained with a seat belt which will go over the shoulder, and will adhere to all current safety regulations which apply to normal aircraft seating, Ryanair spokesperson Stephen McNamara was quoted by Daily Mail as saying.
He is confident that the seats can pass safety tests. ‘Boeing can put a man on the moon so I am sure they are able to make these a success.’
But a spokesman for the Civil Aviation Authority warned the plans may not meet safety requirements. ‘It’s aviation law that people have to have a seat-belt on at take-off and landing so they would have to be in a seat,’ he said.
(Venkata Vemuri can be contacted at venkata.v@ians.in)
