Some airlines are beginning to charge obese customers for extra seats, but Samoa Air appears to be the first to adopt a “pay-as-you-weigh” pricing plan.
The airline’s price-a-kilogram will vary depending on the flight, from as little as $1 (R9) per kilogram to as much as $4.16.
Samoa Air chief executive Chris Langton defended the new policy. “This is the fairest way of travelling,” Langton told ABC Radio in an interview. “There are no extra fees in terms of excess baggage or anything – it is just a kilo is a kilo is a kilo.”
Langton said that the new policy was intended, in part, to raise awareness of Samoa’s weight problem.
The Pacific island nation has one of the most obese populations in the world. According to a 2007 World Health Organisation survey, more than 80 percent of Samoans aged 15 and older are considered obese. – Sapa-AP