Flying Samoa Air? Better get in shape first.

Samoa Air is the first major carrier to announce a charge “pay as you weigh” ticket fares, based on the heft of passengers and their luggage.

Ticket fares range between $1 per kilogram (or about $2.20 per pound) for the weight of a traveler and their baggage to $4.16 per kilogram (or about $9.17 per pound), depending on the length of the trip.

The head of Samoa Air defended the airlines decision to Australia’s ABC Radio, saying that the move had helped promote health awareness in Samoa, which has one of the world’s highest levels of obesity.

Chris Langton told the radio station that he believed charging by weight was “the concept of the future.”

3 News in New Zealand reports that a 75kg (165 lb) person with 15kg (33 lbs) of luggage flying from Fagali’i in Western Samoa to Pago Pago in American Samoa will be charged $1.66 per kg ($3.66 per lb), racking up a total fare of $149.40. There was no direct comparison was available between the airline’s new and old fares, though the same flight on Polynesian Airlines comes out cheaper at a flat fare of $135, the report says.

The airline, in a statement on its website, described the move as “keeping airfares fair, by charging our passengers only for what they weigh. you are the master of your Air’fair’, you decide how much (or little) your ticket will cost. No more exorbitant excess baggage fee’s, or being charged for baggage you may not carry. Your weight plus your baggage items, is what you pay for. Simple. The sky is the limit.”

— Sara Lin

Photo credit: Jason Pratt