Thai airlines weigh passengers before flights for data collection

AirAsia in Thailand last week asked their passengers to have their weight checked before boarding their flights.

It wrote on its Facebook page the weighing was carried out on selected flights from October 16 to 20, on a voluntary basis, to determine the average weight of passengers.

"Any data collected in the exercise will be kept confidential," AirAsia said.

From mid-September until the end of this month, Bangkok Airways is also inviting passengers to be weighed along with their carry-on baggage as part of a weight check survey, Nation Thailand reported.

"In compliance with the International Civil Aviation standard regarding the use of standard passenger and baggage weights for weight and balance calculation purposes, the conducting of a standard weights survey is essential to the safety and efficiency of a flight in determining that the actual weight does not exceed the maximum take-off weight limitation," said Bangkok Airways in a statement.

Thai Lion Air last week requested volunteer passengers to weigh themselves and their luggage to gather average weight data, Thaiger reported.

A series of major airlines around the world have weighed passengers before they board their flights.

On May 30, Air New Zealand announced that it would ask its passengers to step on the scales at their departure gates as part of a five-week customer weight survey.

South Korea's flag carrier Korean Air last August started weighing passengers and their carry-on luggage on domestic and international flights to ensure aviation safety, as well as reduce excessive fuel use.