EasyJet to Trial Allocated Seating in 2012
Budget carrier easyJet has announced it’ll start to offer allocated seating on selected routes from spring 2012, as part of a trial of the service.
At present the easyJet boarding system is a first-come, first-served system where passengers can purchase a fast-boarding option to get first choice. Travellers with young children also currently get to board first, giving them the pick of seats on board, but the new system will see all passengers being allocated a specific seat.
Seats with extra legroom, such as those next to exits, are expected to prove popular, and will be available for passengers to purchase in advance of the flight.
The airline said in a statement that the prices of seats would “stay true to easyJet’s commitment to low fares”, and said that if passengers did not preselect a seat at the time of their booking, they would be allocated seats next to their group where possible. EasyJet CEO Carolyn McCall said the company was keen to find out how the initiative would work out.
“This is another example of easyJet trying to do all it can to make travel easy and affordable for our passengers,” said Ms McCall. “We look forward to seeing how our passengers respond and how the trial works. We will roll it out further only if it works operationally, from a revenue perspective and increases passenger satisfaction. If it doesn’t, we won’t.”
EasyJet also this week announced a 60 per cent rise in pre-tax profits for the year, hitting £248 million thanks in part to an 11.8 per cent increase in passenger volume over the last year.
Travel Industry news posted by Jan Moys on 15 November 2011
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