South Korea’s flagship airline Korean Air will soon ask passengers to weigh themselves and their carry-ons before boarding, citing the need to comply with government laws.
The carrier will begin the weighing process for domestic flights from Gimpo Airport from August 28 to September 6, according to the Korea JoongAng Daily.
For international flights out of Incheon Airport, passengers will be weighed from September 8 to 19, the newspaper reported.
Both passengers and luggage will be weighed anonymously, and the data will then be shared with the country’s Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport.
If a passenger prefers not to have their weight data collected, Korean Air confirms that they can opt out by letting a staff member know.
A Korean Air Airbus 380-800 plane sits at the gate at Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) in Los Angeles, California, on July 26, 2023. (DANIEL SLIM/AFP via Getty Images)
Korean Air is one of many global airlines required to periodically obtain plane weight data.
Earlier this year, Air New Zealand carried out a similar voluntary program with some of the customers flying international routes, like the ultra-long-haul between Auckland and New York’s JFK.
“We weigh everything that goes on the aircraft — from the cargo to the meals onboard, to the luggage in the hold,” Air New Zealand load control improvement specialist Alastair James said at the time, according to the New Zealand Herald. “For customers, crew and cabin bags, we use average weights, which we get from doing this survey.”
Once data is gathered, it helps airlines make decisions about fuel needs and weight distribution on board.