胖子们很忧伤：萨摩亚航空公司要按乘客体重收费

The world's first airline to charge passengers by their weight rather than per seat says the policy has helped to raise obesity awareness and improve public health.

萨摩亚航空是世界上第一个根据乘客体重而非座位收费的航空公司，该航空公司认为这个政策可以提高大家的肥胖意识，并提高公众的健康。

Samoa Air, the Pacific national airline which flies domestically and last week began connecting Samoa to American Samoa, allows passengers to nominate their weight and then measures them on scales at the airport. Passengers do not pay for a seat but pay a fixed price per kilogram, which varies according to the length of the route.

萨摩亚航空是一个太平洋地区的国内航空，上周开始了萨摩亚和美属萨摩亚之间的航线。乘客们先自己报体重，然后在机场进行测量。乘客不是根据座位数量收费，而是综合考虑体重和路程的来计算价格。

Analysts believe other airlines around the world are likely to follow suit, especially as the rising weight of populations adds to fuel costs. Some airlines in the United States have already begun forcing passengers who cannot fit in a single seat to buy two tickets.

分析人士认为，尤其考虑到体重增加会增加燃料成本，世界的其他航空公司可能纷纷效仿。美国的部分航空公司已经开始强迫那些胖得一个座位坐不下的乘客购买两张票。

The Pacific island nations have some of the world's highest rates of obesity, with Samoa usually included in the top ten countries for obesity levels.

太平洋附近岛屿国家在全球肥胖率最高，而萨摩亚已经在肥胖率最高的十个国家的榜单里。

The head of Samoa Air, Chris Langton, said the new system was fairer and that some families with small children were now paying substantially cheaper fares. "This is the fairest way of travelling," he told ABC Radio. "There are no extra fees in terms of excess baggage or anything – it is just a kilo, a kilo is a kilo."

萨摩亚航空公司的负责人克里斯-兰顿说，新系统更加公平，而且带小孩的家庭实际上支付的票价大幅降低了。“这是最公平的旅游方式，” 他在接受ABC之声采访时说，“没有多余的行李费—一公斤就是一公斤。”

Mr Langton said he believed his airline's new payment policy was helping to promote health and obesity awareness."When you get into the Pacific standard weight is substantially higher [than south-east Asia] but it can be quite diverse," he said. "People generally are becoming much more weight conscious. That's a health issue in some areas. It has raised the awareness of weight."

兰顿先生说，他相信航空公司新的支付政策可以促进健康和肥胖的意识。“你会发现太平洋的标准体重总体上（比东南亚地区）更高，但它可以是相当多样化的。” 他说，“人们越来越意识到体重的重要性。在某些地区，这是一个健康问题。它已经提高了人们对健康的意识。”

The rates range from $1 (65p) a kilogram – for the weight of the traveler and their baggage – on the airline's shortest domestic route to about $4.16 per kilogram for travel from Samoa to the neighboring nation of American Samoa.

乘客和行李的体重合计收费，价格范围从国内航班最短距离的1美元/公斤，到由萨摩亚到美属萨摩亚飞行路线中的4.16美元/公斤。

An economist in Norway, Bharat P Bhatta, proposed in a recent journal article that charging passengers according to weight would help carriers recoup the cost of the extra fuel required to carry heavier travellers.

挪威的经济学家巴拉特在近期的期刊文章中指出，根据体重向乘客收费，将帮助运营商收回从较重旅客中消耗的额外燃料费用。

Mr Langton said he believed charging by weight was "the concept of the future"."It's a new concept," he said. "As any airline operators knows, airlines don't run on seats, they run on weight … People generally are bigger, wider and taller than they were 50 years ago. It is an area where the industry will start looking at this."

兰顿先生说，他相信根据体重收费是“未来理念”。“这是一个新的概念，”他说，“很多航空公司运营商都知道，航线不是根据座位运营，而是根据体重……人们现在比起五十年前更重更高。这是这个行业即将开始的领域。”