Do people standing and walking around inflight annoy you? Well, you might be able to join them soon – a budget airline from Colombia is considering removing normal seats with these standing seats.
A snug fit in the Skyrider seats launched in 2010
“There are people out there right now researching whether you can fly standing up – we’re very interested in anything that makes travel less expensive,” William Shaw, founder and CEO of VivaColombia said. “Who cares if you don’t have an inflight entertainment system for a one-hour flight? Who cares that there aren’t marble floors… or that you don’t get free peanuts?”
VivaColombia is hoping the move will drive down fares to open air travel to working class Colombians and budget holidaymakers by allowing more people to be squeezed onto each flight.
Funny thing is, this proposal isn’t new. Back in 2010, Ryanair proposed standing areas with the boss Michael O’Leary describing the standing seats as “bar stools with seatbelts”.
As ridiculous as this sounds, budget airlines are known to find ways to cut the cost of airfare to accommodate more passengers. Michael even compared planes to buses and questioned whether seatbelts were actually needed.
“If there ever was a crash on an aircraft, God forbid, a seatbelt won’t save you. You don’t need a seatbelt on the London Underground. You don’t need a seatbelt on trains which are travelling at 120mph,” Michael argued.
Civil Aviation Authorities disagree however, and vertical seats have not been approved by regulators in any country so far.
A snug fit in the Skyrider seats
A tall, broad man is struggling to get out of his seat
*All Skyrider images sourced from naszewyspy.co.uk
Apart from the jaw dropping news, the no-frills carrier announced that it is adding 50 more Airbus 320s to its fleet to capitalise on the nation’s growing tourist market.
My 2CENTS? Never mind those free peanuts, give me a glass of wine instead – I’m already seated.