Easyjet launches allocated seats on all flights
Rex
Easyjet is introducing allocated seating from November on all flights, with all passengers given a specific seat free of charge.
The desperate and ungainly mad panic for seats will no longer be necessary. After trialling pre-assigned seating earlier this year, the airline has announced that it is scrapping speedy boarding in favour of pre-assigned seating on all routes.
Passengers who want to change their seat will be charged £12 for over-wing seats or seats in the front row, £8 for berths in the four rows behind the front row, and £3 for anywhere else on the plane.
Easyjet recently c
arried out a trial run of seat allocations on selected flights. The airline said the response was so positive that it has decided to push ahead with it across its networks.
Carolyn McCall, Easyjet chief executive (pictured) said: "Allocated seating gives all our passengers a better boarding experience.
"We are confident this move will make our current passengers happier."
Ms McCall added that the trial showed that allocated seating did not affect on-time performance. Other low-cost airlines, such as Ryanair, have shied away from allocated seating because they believe it makes boarding the short turnaround between flights too long and complicated.
Easyjet has released some of the findings from the trials, and the results are interesting. They reveal, for example, that passengers prefer to sit on the left hand side of the aircraft, with choosing seats A, B and C far outselling seats D, E and F. On a short-haul flights, the £3 window seat 6a was the most popular, while on longer routes the £12 1a berth was the most popular, due to its better legroom.
%VIRTUAL-Gallery-134072%
Related articles
Two more low-cost airlines cut legroom to add extra seats
"Make passengers walk to their flights" says Ryanair's O'Leary
Is Easyjet making passengers happier by introducing seat allocation? Do you have a favourite seat on an airline, and would you pay to sit in it? Give us your thoughts below!
