Japanese airline ANA is introducing a policy that some think really takes the pee. They want passengers to relieve themselves before they board the aircraft, in a somewhat desperate attempt to reduce carbon emissions.
The airline’s chiefs say that empty bladders means passengers will weigh less, so their fleet of aircraft will save fuel and reduce their carbon emissions.
All Nippon Airways reckons that the policy could lead to a five-tonne reduction in carbon emissions per month, as well as saving the company money.
The new regulation will be policed by ‘loo monitors’, who stand by boarding gates and take waiting passengers to the lavatories before they embark.
Japan’s NHK television says that the loo rule, which began on October 1, is a four-week experiment that ANA may well poo-poo in the end.
It may sound plane crazy, but ANA should at least be given some credit for trying. After all, flying is the fastest-growing source of carbon dioxide emissions, accounting for more than 600 million tons of the greenhouse gas per year.