Almost everything on a commercial airliner, such as fuel, checked baggage, cargo, and meals, is weighed. For passengers and their cabin baggage, most airlines use average data.
But Finland's national carrier Finnair this week began asking passengers to voluntarily and anonymously jump on the scales with their hand luggage at the country's main airport in Helsinki, the airline said. The goal is to get their own numbers.
Finnair has started weighing passengers voluntarily.
“We will need data for both the winter season and the summer season — in the winter people usually wear heavier clothes, which affects the weights,” Pivette Tallqvist, a spokeswoman for Venair, told the Associated Press, adding that the survey would continue until May.
She added that passengers boarding European flights and long-haul flights will not be “penalized because of their weight” and “the numbers will remain confidential, away from prying eyes.”
About 800 people have joined the survey so far, and those who agree to participate receive a small gift — a reflective baggage tag, Tallqvist said.
Tolkvist said airlines can either use official data from the European Union Aviation Safety Agency, known as EASA, or make their own standard weight measurements. Finnair has chosen the latter option, but safety authorities require the survey to be renewed every five years. The last time Finnair weighed passengers was in 2018.
Passengers in the departure lounge at Helsinki Airport, Finland.credit: iStock
In June, New Zealand's national airline, Air New Zealand, also weighed passengers before boarding.
The weight figures will be sent to the Finnish Transport and Communications Agency later this year and will be used to balance aircraft and loading calculations for the period from 2025 to 2030.
