The airport just got even more humbling for passengers of one airline.
That’s because Uzbekistan Airways has decided to start weighing its customers along with their suitcases.
In a recent statement, the airline announced it will weigh passengers and their carry-on luggage prior to boarding flights to determine how much weight they’ll be adding to the plane.
“According to the rules of International Air Transport Association, airlines are obliged to carry out the regular procedures of preflight control passengers weighing with hand baggage to observe requirements for ensuring flight safety,” reads the airline’s statement. The thing is, an IATA spokesperson said that the organization isn’t aware of any such regulation concerning the weighing of passengers along with their hand luggage prior to their flight, according to CNN.
“All airlines have policies in place for load calculations, weight and balance of their aircraft. These policies in turn are subject to the rules and regulations of their national aviation regulator,” the spokesperson told CNN.
Uzbekistan Airlines says passengers will be weighed on scales in airport departure zones (likely right in front of a line of other passengers). The airline says that the weight record will only contain the corresponding passenger category – male/female/child – with full confidentiality of the results guaranteed.
Apparently the move will mean that some overweight people could be excluded from busy flights on smaller planes if they weigh in higher than the limit, though this has not yet been confirmed by the airline.
If the heavier individuals are charged extra, the airline won’t be the first to do so. In 2012, Samoa Air introduced a pay-as-you-weigh fare structure, which is still in place today. The difference, however, is that Samoa Air asks customers to input their weight into the online booking section of their website – not to step on a scale at the airport.
Well, at least the move offers incentive to drop those extra few pounds before your next vacation. Depending on where your travels take you, though, you’ll probably gain them back by the flight home weigh-in.