How many times have you complained about travelling in a crowded bus or Metro without managing to grab a seat?
Now, imagine that the very discomfort you have been complaining about becomes the USP for a flight. No, we are not making this up. Something called the standing-only flight does exist.
The standing or 'vertical seats' came into being when the seat configuration was created by Airbus in 2003. The configuration also involves standing passengers on a flight, who are given the option of standing in a particular position.
When Airbus started pitching for such vertical seats, a lot of airlines seemed to be sceptical due to the entailing legal issues. Some, on the other hand, did consider it as an option in its bid to lower airfares.
Irish airline Ryanair, for instance, was likely to introduce 'standing only' or vertical seats while charging passengers between four to eight Pounds per person, depending on the journey. An added twist was that the passengers would have had to pay extra for using the aircraft washroom. The plan, however, faced backlash from the Civil Aviation Authority.
Following Ryanair's footsteps was Tiger Airways, who announced the idea around the same time as a means of providing the lowest fares. According to a report published by aerospace engineering professor Fairuz Romli, standing cabins could lead to a 21 percent increase in passenger capacity while reducing prices by as much as 44 per cent. This novel design could further cut down on the operational costs.
Last year, even a Chinese budget carrier, Spring Airlines, floated the idea in order to cram more people onboard. But safety issues came in the way of gaining approval from the authorities.
And it's not like the concept of standing flights has subsided entirely--a regional Russian airline has actually carried standing passengers in one of its chartered flights in 2010. And now, a probe is being carried out on Pakistan International Airlines, which allegedly flew seven standing passengers from Karachi to Saudi Arabia on January 20, 2017.
27/02/17 Disha Roy Choudhury/India Today
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Now, imagine that the very discomfort you have been complaining about becomes the USP for a flight. No, we are not making this up. Something called the standing-only flight does exist.
The standing or 'vertical seats' came into being when the seat configuration was created by Airbus in 2003. The configuration also involves standing passengers on a flight, who are given the option of standing in a particular position.
When Airbus started pitching for such vertical seats, a lot of airlines seemed to be sceptical due to the entailing legal issues. Some, on the other hand, did consider it as an option in its bid to lower airfares.
Irish airline Ryanair, for instance, was likely to introduce 'standing only' or vertical seats while charging passengers between four to eight Pounds per person, depending on the journey. An added twist was that the passengers would have had to pay extra for using the aircraft washroom. The plan, however, faced backlash from the Civil Aviation Authority.
Following Ryanair's footsteps was Tiger Airways, who announced the idea around the same time as a means of providing the lowest fares. According to a report published by aerospace engineering professor Fairuz Romli, standing cabins could lead to a 21 percent increase in passenger capacity while reducing prices by as much as 44 per cent. This novel design could further cut down on the operational costs.
Last year, even a Chinese budget carrier, Spring Airlines, floated the idea in order to cram more people onboard. But safety issues came in the way of gaining approval from the authorities.
And it's not like the concept of standing flights has subsided entirely--a regional Russian airline has actually carried standing passengers in one of its chartered flights in 2010. And now, a probe is being carried out on Pakistan International Airlines, which allegedly flew seven standing passengers from Karachi to Saudi Arabia on January 20, 2017.
27/02/17 Disha Roy Choudhury/India Today
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