Pee before you fly
Sunday October 4, 2009 - Email this article to a friend

The Japanese airline, All Nippon Airways (ANA), has reportedly started asking its passengers to visit the lavatory before boarding their flights in an attempt to reduce carbon emissions.

All Nippon Airways believes that empty bladders means the passengers weigh less and that means overall the plane is lighter and therefore uses less fuel.

It hopes that the weight saved could lead to a 5-tonne reduction in carbon emissions in a month and of course it will reduce the airline's fuel costs too.

"Loo Monitors" will be positioned near boarding gates to escort waiting passengers to lavatories before getting on the aircraft.

Read carefully Those of us who have, er, used the faciliites in Japan will know that some of them differ from British ones as the picture to the right shows.

It raises a variety of questions.

What happens if you are caught short on the plane?  Do you then have to pay extra to visit the lavatory? Will they make a spectacle of you and award you with a  "I had to use the loo on the plane" badge?

Most importantly, how long will the queues be at ground level as people step forward to obey the new instruction?

Passengers already queue for the check-in, queue for passport control, queue for security, queue to have shoes checked, and now imagine the enormous queues for the loos and the potential flight delays as you wait for the loos to be vacated.

Here's whyANA says that the new 'loo' policy is a 4 week experiment, but if it works and is well received by passengers it could be extended.

Flying is the fastest-growing source of carbon dioxide emissions, accounting for more than 600 million tons of the greenhouse gas per year.

Maybe the airline has a point?

Now if you are interested in Japanese loo stories than take a look at this one - with a bit of imagination it's quite a view.

Japan has hundreds of ski resorts and several ski tour operators, including Crystal, Ski World and Ski Safari go there. The specialist off piste company MountainTracks also takes groups there.

The head of the company, Nick Parks, in one of the PlanetSKI experts in back country skiing and safety. Ask any of our experts a question, here.

The country has large and reliable falls of powder snow.

But if you do go and fly ANA remember to visit the toilet first.

Don't forget to check out the latest blog from our content editor, James Cove, about off piste safety which has also appeared as part of his regular column for 'In the Snow' magazine.

Bookmark this page

Related Articles