Call for More Legroom on Airlines

By NICHOLAS CECIL, AMY IGGULDEN

BUDGET airlines could be forced to give passengers more legroom because of health and safety fears.

EasyJet, Thomas Cook, Thomsonfly, Monarch Airlines, bmibaby, First Choice Airways and My Travel could be affected.

The all-party Lords science and technology committee recommended increasing the minimum distance between seats from 26 inches to 28.2.

Committee member Lord Patel said there were worries some seats were too small for passengers to adopt the brace position in an emergency and increased the risk of deep vein thrombosis. A spokesman for Monarch Airlines said the airline would look carefully at the report while Thomsonfly and First Choice said they would assist investigations.

Roger Wiltshire of the British Air Transport Association said more legroom between seats would lead to higher travel costs and more greenhouse gas emissions..

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