Ryanair has announced plans to introduce ‘standing-room only’ areas on its flights.
During a recent television interview, the European low cost carrier’s CEO Michael O’Leary confirmed the potential installation of ‘vertical seats’ on a range of short haul flights within the next two years.
Under the initiative, passengers would be ‘strapped in’ while standing up, although a report in the Daily Mail has raised doubts over whether they would pass safety tests.
“We are very confident that the seats can pass safety tests. Boeing can put a man on the moon so I am sure they are able to make these a success,” Ryanair spokesperson Stephen McNamara told the newspaper.
To make way for the vertical seats, Ryanair is considering the removal of two toilets from the back of the aircraft and a number of rows of standard seats to accommodate around 40 to 50 extra people per flight.
“We polled about 120,000 passengers, 80,000 said they would consider the seats if they were free, 42 per cent said they would use the seats if the fare was half that of a traditional seat,” McNamara added.
“The appeal of doing this is that it makes costs lower for the airline, and hopefully we can pass those savings over to the passengers, so fares will come down.”