Fat fliers force airlines to rethink seat size
(Xinhua)
Updated: 2006-10-07 09:04 Chinese airlines are being forced to rearrange
their seating as the burgeoning number of overweight Chinese complain about the
discomfort of ill-fitting seats.
Passengers have complained that airlines often try to squeeze more seats into
a plane in order to make bigger profits.
A source with China Eastern Airlines said the company had imported all its
aircraft from the West where people are on average bigger, but now the company
planned to reduce by about 20 the number of seats on the new Airbus 321 to
enlarge the seating space.
Xia Hongshan, vice dean of Nanjing University of Aeronautics and
Astronautics, suggested more airlines rearrange seats to provide for the comfort
of larger passengers.
"China's civil airlines always have empty seats, especially in the low
season. So, it is reasonable for companies to think about reducing the number of
seats, even though it might not be a small investment," Xia said.
Early this year, a China Southern Airlines aircraft delayed takeoff for two
hours because two passengers began fighting in a quarrel over seating space.
Chinese people were becoming fatter, Wen Weiliang, director of China Health
Care Association, said.
Without larger seats, more quarrels would certainly happen, he said.
Wen cited statistics showing that nearly 20 million adults in China were
overweight. In large cities, the ratio reached 30 percent.
"The Chinese are also getting taller," Wen added.
But airlines are also concerned about the profit loss that seating
re-arrangement might incur because planes are usually full during the peak
seasons. (For more biz stories, please visit Industry Updates)
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