Ryanair To Charge 'Fat Tax' Following Online Poll

by Amanda Banks, Tax-News.com, London

23 April 2009

Ryanair, Europe’s largest low fares airline, announced on April 22 that it will now consider how to charge a ‘fat tax’ after more than 30,000 passengers voted in favour of charging excess weight fees for very large passengers in an online vote over the past two weeks.

Ryanair’s poll seemed preposterous when it was first announced on its site, but it appears this week that the airline will follow through its proposals. On the surface the poll seems to be a reply to the British and Irish government’s air travel taxes, which it has incessantly lobbied against this year.

The poll gained votes from 100,000 passengers, via the airline’s website. The poll allowed customers to decide which cost reduction idea would be introduced. Ryanair has confirmed the final poll results are as follows:

• 29% - Excess fees for very overweight passengers;
• 25% - EUR1 for toilet paper – with O’Leary’s face on it;
• 24% - EUR3 to smoke in a converted toilet cubicle;
• 14% - Annual subscription to access Ryanair.com;
• 8% - EUR2 “corkage” fee for passengers who bring their own food onboard.

Ryanair has announced that it will now consider how to implement such a charge and asked passengers to vote on which format the charge should take:

• Charge per kg over 130kg/20 stone (male) and 100kg/15 stone (female);
• Charge per inch for every waist inch over 45 inch (male) and 40 inch (female);
• Charge for every point in excess of 40 points on the Body Mass Index (+30 points is obese);
• Charge for a second seat if passengers’ waist touches both armrests simultaneously.

Ryanair’s Stephen McNamara said:

“With passengers voting overwhelmingly for a ‘fat tax’ we are now asking them to suggest which format the charge should take. The above four points seem to us to be the simplest, fairest and administratively easiest to apply. In all cases we’ve limits at very high levels so that a ‘fat tax’ will only apply to those really large passengers who 'invade’ the space of the passengers sitting beside them.”

“These charges, if introduced might also act as an incentive to some of our very large passengers to lose a little weight and hopefully feel a little lighter and healthier.”

“The revenues from any such fat tax will be used to lower the airfares for all Ryanair passengers.”

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