Great now we'll all be able to walk to China with a full bladder.
Ryanair plan for standing-room 'vertical seats'
July 2, 2010 - 10:38AM
Low-cost European carrier Ryanair has announced plans to allow passengers to fly standing up - at a discount.
Chief executive Michael O'Leary will announce proposals today for "vertical seats" along with plans to charge passengers to use the toilet on board planes, according to British media reports.
"We've been looking at is taking out the last 10 rows of seats so we will have 15 rows of seats and the equivalent of 10 rows of standing area," O'Leary told ITV's How To Beat the Budget Airlines program.
The airline plans to offer the standing-room spots on short-haul flights for a cost of about £5 ($A8.90).
Ryanair has repeatedly raised the possibility of charging passengers to use the toilets on flights lasting less than an hour.
"We are aiming at starting safety testing in about 12 months with a view to going into service with the new arrangements in about 18 months to two years' time," a spokesman told The Guardian. "We think this would work well on our winter services so would hope to eventually introduce it for a winter timetable."
However, the newspaper reported that safety officials at the European Aviation Safety Agency said the plan was unlikely to pass the regulator's requirements.
Aircraft manufacturer Boeing has already rejected Ryanair's controversial plans once, but the airline says it has re-entered talks over its proposals.
Ryanair has dismissed claims it is only seeking publicity and is not serious about the proposals. The airline said the same claims were made two years ago when it announced it would remove its check-in desks from airports. It removed the last of its check-in desks in October last year.
Link here:
http://www.smh.com.au/travel/tra ... -20100702-zru8.html
[
Last edited by atomic3d at 2-7-2010 17:17 ]