(Sources: The Daily Telegraph & USA Today)

Irish carrier Ryan Air is already well known for its aggressive low fares and its brow raising  strategies.  Now they are at it again.  But this time with an announcement that says it’s working on a “standing-room-only” vertical seating section in the tail end of its 250 planes, which seats would cost as little as £5 — or roughly 8USD.

According to an article on Daily Telegraph , the quirky CEO – Michael O’Leary was quoted saying that charging customers £1 to make use of facilities on board the planes would encourage travelers on one hour flights to use lavatories at the airport instead of on the aircraft.

The Irishman said he intended to introduce coin-operated loos and added: “The other change we’ve been looking at is taking out the last 10 rows of seats so we will have 15 rows of seats and the equivalent of 10 rows of standing area.”

A Ryanair spokesman said that Boeing had been consulted over refitting the fleet with “vertical seats” which would allow passengers to be strapped in while standing up, which would cost between £4 and £8 per person.

USA Today points to Megan Lane of the BBC, who describes Ryanair’s O’Leary as being “fond of speculating publicly about outlandish money-saving schemes.” And she’s quick to point out this is “not the first time the airline has floated the standing seats idea, or indeed come up with headline grabbing schemes which fail to materialise.” She cites Ryanair’s proposed “fat tax” for obese passengers and the carrier’s still-to-materialize pay-toilet plan as examples.

The USA Today article also got this – A spokesman with the Cologne-based European Aviation Safety Agency tells the London Daily Mailthat “what they [Ryanair] are proposing would be unprecedented and highly unlikely to be certified in the near future. Stand-up seating would require changes to European rules for the certification of aircraft.

Transportgooru Musings: As you can see below, this announcement has generated quite bit of a publicity buzz around the world and worked like a charm for O’Leary, as always! But please – do not charge for toilets.  It is one last thing we flyers don’t need to worry about paying for when planning our trip budgets. How would I be even include this as part of my expense report when I return from a Business trip to UK?