REPUBLIKA.CO.ID,  OSLO - Airlines should charge obese passengers more, a Norwegian economist has suggested, arguing that "pay as you weigh" pricing would bring health, financial and environmental dividends. About two-thirds of US adults are obese or overweight.

Bharat Bhatta, an associate professor at Sogn og Fjordane University College, said that airlines should follow other transport sectors and charge by space and weight.

"To the degree that passengers lose weight and therefore reduce fares, the savings that result are net benefits to the passengers," Bhatta wrote this week in the Journal of Revenue and Pricing Management.

Bhatta put together three models for what he called  "pay as you weigh airline pricing." The first would charge passengers according to how much they and their baggage weighed. It would set a rate for pounds (kg) per passenger so that someone weighing 130 pounds (59 kg) would pay half the fare of 260-pound (118-kg) person.

A second model would use a fixed base rate, with an extra charge for heavier passengers to cover th extra costs. Bhatta's preferred option was the third, where the same fare would be charged if a passenger was of average weight.

Such carriers as Air France and Southwest Airlines allow overweight passengers to buy extra seats and get a refund on them. Asked about charging heavier passengers extra, Southwest spokesman Chris Mainz said: "We have our own policies in place and don't anticipate changin those."

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