Budget airline Ryanair to provide vertical seats on flights

The budget airline Ryanair has announced that they are proposing to install vertical seats at the rear of all their planes. In addition to this, toilets will cost a quid to use, to allow ticket prices on Ryanair flights to be cheaper than ever. They hope to offer vertical seats from as little as £4 a time.

By charging passengers to use the toilet on shorter flights, passengers will be encouraged to use the loo before they board. Ryanair is hoping to start charging for toilets within the next 12 months.

Ten rows of seating at the back of all Ryanair planes will be replaced by 15 rows of vertical seats, enabling the budget airline to pack more passengers onto each flight and offer lower ticket prices. Initially the vertical seats will be tested on short-haul flights of around an hour in length.

Concerns have been raised about the safety of the vertical seats. Ryanair has assured that passengers will be safely strapped in, but will the restraints be as secure as safety belts on normal seats?

In response to the safety of the vertical seats, a spokesperson for Ryanair said: "We are very confident that the seats can pass safety tests. Boeing can put a man on the moon so I am sure they can make these a success."

Ryanair conducted a survey on 120,000 existing passengers, which revealed that around 40% would be willing to try the vertical seating if the budget airline offered tickets prices that were half that of normal seating.

Safety testing for the new vertical seating is due to commence next year. With such brave, cost-effective plans in the pipeline, will Ryanair become the ultimate budget airline?

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