Budget airline Ryanair has said it will introduce ‘standing-room only’ areas on its flights.
The low cost carrier has announced proposals to install new ‘vertical seats’ on a range of short haul flights within the next two years.
Speaking on UK Television, Ryanair chief executive Michael O’Leary said that the initative forms part of a wider plan to revolutionise budget air travel and change passenger behaviour.
The "seats", which will allow passengers to be ‘strapped in’ while standing up, have drawn criticism from the UK's Civil Aviation Authority (CAA), which has raised doubts over whether they would pass safety tests.
Ryanair spokesperson Stephen McNamara said: "We are very confident that the seats can pass safety tests. Boeing can put a man on the moon so I am sure they are able to make these a success".
The airline has promised that the new seats will adhere to all current safety regulations which apply to normal aircraft seating.
Passengers would still wear a seat belt which would go over their shoulder in a similar style to the type of seats often used by cabin crew during flights.
Ryanair hope to fund the changes to the cabin by charging passengers £1 to use the toilet during flights.
To make way for the vertical seats Ryanair is considering removing two toilets from the back of the aircraft and a number of rows of standard seats to accommodate around 40 to 50 extra people per flight.
Though unconventional, research by the airline showed that the public would consider flying in the new seats - as long as it was cheaper than flying normally.
"We polled about 120,000 passengers, 80,000 said they would consider the seats if they were free, 42 per cent said they would use the seats if the fare was half that of a traditional seat," McNamara added.
"The appeal of doing this is that it makes costs lower for the airline, and hopefully we can pass those savings over to the passengers, so fares will come down."
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