Air France offers over-weight passengers a better deal

Air France has announced that obese passengers who choose to buy a second seat for added comfort will get a refund if the flight is not full.

The airline has given passengers the option to buy a second seat in its Voyageur economy cabin at a 25 per cent discount since 2005.

From February 1 it will refund passengers for the price of the additional seat if there are still empty seats in economy when the flight departs.

Although the airline does not force over-weight passengers to buy a second seat, it does reserve the right to deny boarding to anyone who cannot fit comfortably into a single seat if there are no other empty seats on the aircraft.

The airline gives its seat sizes on its website, www.airfrance.co.uk, so passengers can see whether they are large enough for their size.

In the United States, several airlines insist that obese passengers buy a second seat on the next available flight if they can't fit comfortably into a single seat, they can't buckle the seat belt or they can't put the seat's armrests down.

United Airlines (www.united.com), which flies to the States from London Heathrow, introduced a new policy last year whereby over-weight passengers will be given a second seat if there is one available, otherwise they must pay to sit in business class or buy a second economy seat on the next available flight.

Ryanair (www.ryanair.com) toyed with the idea of charging obese passengers extra last year, but it has ditched the idea-for the time being.

Digg    Reddit    Facebook    Tweet This