This Airline Is the Latest to Weigh Its Passengers Before Boarding

Korean Air will weigh passengers and their baggage as part of a safety test in August and September.

Korean Air will weigh passengers and their baggage as part of a safety test in August and September.

The test, which complies with regulations from the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, will take place on both domestic and international flights, Korea JoongAng Daily reported. Passengers will be able to opt out of the test by letting an airline employee know.

"Korean Air passengers will be asked to step on scales with their carried-on items at each boarding gate," a Korean Air official told the Korea JoongAng Daily. "The data collated anonymously will be utilized for survey purposes and doesn't mean overweight passengers will need to pay more."

The test will take place for domestic flights from Aug. 28 to Sept. 6 at the Gimpo International Airport and will take place for international flights from Sept. 8 to Sept. 19 at the Incheon International Airport.

"Korea's Ministry of Land, Infrastruture and Transportation (MOLIT) has advised all Korean flag carriers to weigh passengers with their carry-on baggage to update its 'Aircraft Weight and Balance Management Standards,'" the airline confirmed in a statement to Travel + Leisure on Thursday. "This is crucial for safety of flight operations, and Korean Air complies with this mandate and remains committed to safety, its number one priority."

Average weight and balance can be very important on an aircraft. In fact, the lighter an aircraft is, “the less work the engines have to do, the less fuel it uses, and the farther it can fly,” according to the National Air and Space Museum.

Weight also plays a factor when designing an aircraft, which ultimately affects an airline’s bottom line.

“Every bit of weight saved in construction means extra payload (more luggage and/or passengers) can be carried, so the company makes more money,” the National Air and Space Museum added.

Korean Air isn’t the only carrier to complete such a test. Earlier this year, Air New Zealand similarly weighed international air passengers. Like Korean Air, that test was a Civil Aviation Authority requirement.

Korean Air, which is part of the SkyTeam Alliance, is known for serving up traditional Korean fare in the sky (think: bibimbap and ssambap) and offering up some of the coolest amenity kits in the air.

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