Transavia weighing passengers for better fuel calculations

Budget airline Transavia weighed the passengers of five flights from Eindhoven Airport on Friday in an experiment to improve its fuel calculations and reduce its CO2 emissions, Eindhoven Airport said on Twitter.

"Through a more precise determination of the weight on board, the fuel calculation can be performed even more accurately, with the goal of less CO2 emissions", the airport said. Participation in the experiment is voluntary. 

The airport did not elaborate exactly how knowing the weight of passengers on board a flight will reduce its CO2 emissions, especially if not all passengers aboard agree to be weighed.

Airline and airport emissions was a frequent news topic throughout the week in the Netherlands. TUI will halt all flights between the Netherlands and Paris because the frequent train service is a cleaner alternative, the travel operator said on Wednesday. The change is planned in one year's time.

The day before, several parliamentarians called on the country to do a better job of developing and trialing electric solutions to air travel, to make the country a front-runner in this growing field. "We think that in a few years you can fill scheduled services with electric planes, as long as we focus on innovation," said MP Jan Paternotte of centrist party D66. He specifically cited the possibility of short electric flights to Denmark, Norway, and Scotland.

Also this week, EasyJet announced its own plans to utilize plug-in hybrid aircraft to service routes between Amsterdam and airports in London. The airline is working with Airbus and Wright Electric to develop a hybrid plane capable of seating 150 passengers. EasyJet hopes to launch the service by 2030.