It’s Thin-air! Now Finnish airline Finnair is mocked after announcing plan to weigh passengers as well as their carry-on luggage

A Finnish airline has sparked controversy after announcing plans to start weighing passengers and their carry-on luggage to better estimate a plane’s weight before takeoff.

Finnair’s policy has gone viral on social media and sparked fierce debate after the company started ‘metering’ passengers departing from Helsinki on Monday.

Some social media users joked that “even the airline’s name is against overweight people,” but others expressed concern about the impact on people struggling with their weight or those with eating disorders such as anorexia.

Finnair, which serves the United Kingdom with budget flights to and from Finland, stressed in a statement that airlines calculate the weight of the aircraft, its interior and the passengers on board to balance the flight and ensure safe transit.

So far, more than 500 passengers have voluntarily taken part in weigh-ins, a Finnair spokesperson said on Wednesday.

Finnair, which serves the United Kingdom with budget flights to and from Finland, stressed in a statement that airlines calculate the weight of the aircraft, its interior and the passengers on board to balance the flight

The policy received a mixed reception online, with one social media user writing: “It’s Finnair, not Fatair!”

A second added: ‘About time. People weigh more than their suitcases. I thought the newsreader said Thinair.’

Another said: ‘I’m (definitely) not a skinny woman, and I agree with Finnair on that. It’s not a quick shame, it ensures passenger safety.

“I’ll tell you, I’d rather make jokes about my weight than have something go wrong with my weight distribution and end up dying.”

Other social media users said the practice “should be standard on every airline” and praised the decision.

But some customers have raised concerns about privacy, data collection and the psychological impact on passengers.

One Twitter user said: ‘It already costs an arm and a leg to fly, now what?’

A second added: ‘Seems like a huge (no pun intended) invasion of privacy to me. My mother had bulimia and was obsessed with weight. Except when I was pregnant, I’ve never weighed myself since, and neither have my siblings.”

Another furious user said: ‘Is Finnair going to start weighing its passengers? Did I read that correctly? I am completely shocked! And disgusted’.

One user called the policy “draconian,” adding that it was a sign of a “nanny state.”

Until now, many airlines use average weights from aviation authorities (assumed to be 88 kg) or collect their own data.

Finnair says that no collected weight data is linked to passengers. ‘Only the customer service representative working at the measuring point can see the total weight, so you can take part in the survey with confidence.’

The scheme is voluntary, meaning those who do not wish to be weighed are not forced to do so.

This is what communications director Päivyt Tallqvist says The Huffington Post that Finns tend to carry a lot more weight on the plane in the colder months, as they are prepared for thick, heavy coats.

“This is part of having a very strong safety culture in our organization,” Tallqvist said.

‘We want to see whether the data we use for calculations is correct. We use them for every flight and they are important to the aircraft’s performance.

“If you explain this to (passengers), they will understand.”

Finnair is not the first airline to take the initiative and measure the weight of passengers itself.

In August last year, Korea’s largest airline, Korean Air, announced that it would begin weighing passengers at Gimpo Airport on domestic routes and at Incheon Airport on international flights for a short period through September.

The company said the measure was aimed at reducing wasted fuel and helping more accurately estimate aircraft weight.

It is unclear whether other airlines have similar plans to introduce weightings for their passengers.