Extra baggage takes on a whole new meaning. (Reuters)
Jetsetters may find a new incentive to pack light, as another airport will begin weighing passengers as of Oct. 31.
Travelers on Finnair flights departing Helsinki-Vantaa Airport can elect to step on a scale with their carry-on luggage as part of a voluntary pilot program, YLE News reports.
Through November, Finnair hopes at least 150 ticket holders and their luggage will voluntarily step on the scale to provide the airline with more accurate data for calculating the weight and balance of their planes. Currently, Finnair is working with data from the European Aviation Safety Agency from 2009.
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"Loads are different in the summer, for example, when people don't have their winter jackets and shoes and other paraphernalia. There is also a considerable seasonal difference in hand luggage weight for business and leisure travelers," Paivyt Tallqvist, media relations director for the airline, told YLE.
In addition to weighing the passengers, Finnair will record statistics on the age, gender, travel purpose, passenger class and checked bags of the customers who participate. This information will all be logged anonymously, Tallqvist added.
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Nevertheless, Finnair passengers departing Helinski won’t be the first-ever air travelers to step on the scale before boarding.
In 2016, Pago Pago International Airport in American Samoa came under fire for weighing passengers before boarding and assigning seats to maximize aircraft balance. Many Samoans felt the policy to be particularly offensive and discriminatory, as the islands have some of the highest rates of obesity and Type 2 diabetes in the world, according to NPR.
Likewise, in 2015, Uzbekistan Airways introduced similar pre-boarding weigh-ins to increase safety in the high skies.
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