This airline wants to start weighing its passengers before take-off

Uzbekistan Airways is to start weighing passengers before they board flights as part of a new safety drive.

The airline said travellers would need to use a “special weighing machine” before their aircraft took off.

“We will appreciate your assistance and thank you in advance for the help in the solution of our common task of flight safety!” it said of the new procedure. “The full confidentiality of results is guaranteed.”

It was unclear what would happen if the passengers were too heavy, with no mention made in the statement, but the announcement prompted speculation that some people might be prevented from boarding.

Weight can be a particularly important factor on smaller aircraft, though usually not to the extent that each passenger needs to be weighed.

Samoa Air, which operates small aircraft in the Pacific island nation, became the first airline to charge by passenger weight in 2012. A year later, 95 per cent of the population was declared officially overweight.

The chief executive, Chris Langton, said at the time: “The plane can only carry a certain amount of weight and that weight needs to be paid [for].”

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