Planes are more full these days, meaning less space for passengers. Photo: Getty Images <\/p>\n
Remember the good old days when planes flew half-full and we regularly got to stretch out across a row of seats? <\/p>\n
Youd get onboard and start scoping out the rows around you, ready to pounce on some extra space the minute the flight levelled off. <\/p>\n
Sadly, airlines got better and better at yield management, or matching the number of available seats to demand, and those empty rows are now a lot harder to come by. <\/p>\n
It definitely feels as though flights have become more crammed and thats backed up by figures from the International Air Transport Association (IATA). <\/p>\n
Advertisement <\/p>\n
Average passenger load factors for international flights have jumped several percentage points over the past six years, while average loadings on domestic flights have increased from around 76 per cent to nearly 81 per cent. <\/p>\n
But as much as we like to whinge about being squished, the figures show our flights are nowhere near as full as those in other regions. <\/p>\n
For international flights, the Asia Pacific region has the second lowest average load factor in the world, with only those travelling from Africa enjoying more spare seats. <\/p>\n
Spare a thought for travellers in North America, where the average loading on an international flight is over 83 per cent, compared to about 77 per cent on Asia Pacific flights. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Continue reading here: <\/p>\n
How to get more space on a flight<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Planes are more full these days, meaning less space for passengers. Photo: Getty Images Remember the good old days when planes flew half-full and we regularly got to stretch out across a row of seats? Continue reading