Finnair, Finland’s leading airline, has announced a new measure to enhance flight safety by introducing voluntary passenger and carry-on baggage weighing before takeoff. The initiative aims to ensure that the airline adheres to set maximum weight limits for safe aircraft operation.
In a statement released on Friday, Finnair explained that the weigh-ins are optional and anonymous, emphasizing their role in updating weight averages last calculated in 2018.
The airline stressed the importance of accurately estimating passenger and cargo weight to maintain aircraft balance and flight stability, as mandated by aviation regulations requiring weight average updates every five years.
Satu Munnukka, Finnair Ground Processes Lead, clarified that the collected data will be solely used for essential average calculations to ensure flight safety. Munnukka reassured passengers that their personal information will remain disconnected from the weighing process, with only the customer service agent at the measuring point having access to total weight data.
The data collection will take place from this month through May, after which it will be submitted for approval by Finnish authorities and implemented for aircraft balance calculations starting next year. Finnair encourages both business and leisure travelers to participate in the voluntary weighing to obtain accurate information for crucial balance calculations.
Finnair’s decision aligns with practices adopted by other airlines such as Korean Air, Hawaiian Air, Uzbekistan Airways, and Air New Zealand, which have also implemented passenger weighing procedures. Korean Air notably introduced similar measures last year following a new law mandating passenger and carry-on luggage weighing every five years on domestic flights.
The move reflects a broader industry trend, with the US Federal Aviation Administration offering guidance on various methods for determining passenger weights to ensure accurate aircraft weight and balance calculations.
