Two-thirds of us think heavier people should pay more to fly

Alamy

Heavier air passengers should pay more to fly, says a poll undertaken by AOL Travel.

The survey, in which more than 10,000 people participated, found that 71 per cent think that people who weigh more should be charged more for a set on a flight. Just 29 per cent thought that this would be unfair.

The poll was carried out by AOL Travel after an economist who previously worked for Qantas claimed that the more people weigh, the more they should pay. Tony Webber suggested that a weight surcharge, on a "per-excess-kilo" should be charged because the more weight the plane carries, the more fuel it uses and thus the more it costs to fly the plane.

And it seems most people agree with him.

One respondent said: "It is unfair that we should be asked to pay more for heavy luggage whereas so many people are obese. Why not weigh the traveller with the luggage ? If one is sitting next to a very fat person it can be very uncomfortable as they tend to overflow out of their seat."

Another said: "You pay for extra baggage, so why not for extra weight? It makes sense."

But some respondents were very hostile to the idea of charging more for weight: One said: What a ridiculous idea!!! Are they on the other hand going to reduce the amount of money that you pay for a child ticket then? Children pay the same as adults and they weight less than half of an adult weight. If Tony Webber is thinking about the plane using more fuel to carry some people, he on the other hand should be thinking about the ones who weigh less and still paying the same amount. I think that is only fair and justified."

What do you think?

There's still time to vote in the poll!
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