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The national airline of Finland, Finnair, has announced that it has begun weighing passengers before flights.
After reporting on Air New Zealand, it is the first European airline to implement this procedure.
According to its official website, from February to April and May 2024, Finnair will collect data on the average weight of its customers and their carry-on luggage departing from Helsinki Airport.
Finnair Weighs Passengers Before Departure
Why has Finnair started weighing passengers and carry-on luggage? The reason is to ensure safety.
In fact, the goal is to gather data that will be collected at the airline's main hub and will be used for future aircraft balance calculations.
The weighing is voluntary and anonymous, and the data will only be used to optimize the balance calculations of the aircraft currently in use by Finnair.
Each aircraft has a maximum weight limit to ensure safe takeoff and includes the weight of the airplane itself, fuel, checked baggage, cargo, onboard catering, water tanks, and passengers.
The average weights calculated based on the measurements will be submitted to Traficom - the Finnish Transport and Communications Agency - between July and September 2024, and after confirming the weights, they will be used for aircraft balance and load calculations between 2025 and 2030.
The program will cover selected European flights within the Schengen area from Helsinki Airport and a number of long-haul non-Schengen flights.