Sacre Bleu!

A thorny issue raised itself again last week; how do airlines deal with the enormous size of some passengers. Anyone who has had the experience of sitting next to an extra-large neighbour in economy class will vouch for the discomfort it will have caused them. Let's face it; there's precious little room in the seat without having to share part of it with the excess baggage of the bloke next door.

Air France passenger Jean-Jaques Jauffrey didn't see it that way, however. He sued the carrier for damages arising from his humiliation in being measured at check-in and having to pay for an extra seat to accommodate his 26 stone frame. The case was found for the plaintiff and the airline has had to fork out £5,800 in compensation. No mention was made of what criteria are applied and at what point a second seat is deemed mandatory by AF.