Costly: Obese passengers will have to pay nearly double for a second seat on Air France flights Overweight passengers who struggle to fit into just one seat will have to pay double to fly with Air France in a new rule introduced by the airline.
Obese passengers will be charged 75 per cent of the cost of a second seat if they are deemed too large to fit into just one seat of a 43-44cm width.
The airline claims the measure has been introduce for 'safety reasons' so that a seatbelt fits over all passengers
Spokeswoman for Air France, Monique Matze, said: "People who arrive at the check-in desk and are deemed too large to fit into a single seat will be asked to pay for and use a second seat.
"They will be charged 75 per cent of the cost of the second seat, which is the full price excluding tax and surcharges, on on top of the full price for the first."
The move will allow obese passengers to slot one end of one seatbelt into the plug of the belt in the nextdoor seat.
Air France is not the first airline to charge obese people for taking up two seats. Debate has been raging over the issue for more than a year.
Last year American carrier, United Airlines, took the same decision as Air France after receiving over 700 complaints from passengers who did not have a comfortable flight due to the person next to them infringing on their seat.
Ryanair also polled passengers last year on whether they thought a 'fat tax' should be brought in for obese travellers.
One in three of the 100,000 passengers polled by the airline thought the extra charge would be a viable cost-cutting measure.
The charges will be introduced by Air France for those booking tickets from February 1 for all flights from April 1.
source: dailymail