EasyJet to go full allocated seating

It seems that EasyJet is angling towards a more “grown up” audience as the airline has decided to to introduce allocated seating throughout its network.

EasyJet says this is to improve customer satisfaction and attract more passengers.

Whilst pre-booking seats is optional (for example, if you’re checking in, you won’t pay for a seat assignment), for those who have a seat preference it’s time to open your wallet again.

Lets look at the costs:

• £12 for  Extra Leg Room Seats
• £8 for Up Front seats
• £3 for any other seat

On EasyJet’s A319 fleet:

• Extra Leg Room seats are in Row 01, 10 and 11
• Up Front seats are in Rows 2, 3, 4 and 5

On EastyJet’s A320 fleet:

• Extra Leg Room seats are in Row 01, 12 and 13
• Up Front seats are in Rows 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6

Easyjet tested the scheme on some routes, and found that 70% of customers preferred allocated seating.

The roll-out for allocated seating is as follows

• Services to/from Gatwick South, Luton, Stansted, Southend, Bristol and Glasgow from commences 13th November 2012
• Services to/from Gatwick North, Milan Malpensa, Rome Fiumicino and Paris Charles de Gaulle commence  20th November 2012
• Services to/from Belfast International, Edinburgh, Liverpool, Manchester, Newcastle, Basel, Geneva, Lyon, Nice, Toulouse, Paris Orly, Madrid, Lisbon and Berlin Schönefeld commences 27th November 2012

Some passengers are objecting to more fees – especially families who feel it is a hidden charge if they wish together. Easyjet says that where passengers choose not to pay for a specific allocated seat, families and other groups travelling together on the same booking reference would be seated together “wherever possible”. However, as we all know when it comes to check in, seat maps can resemble a teenagers face when finding blocks of seats together (one or two seats here and there – no “free” rows of space)

So EasyJet is turning more into a grown up airline and slowly leaving behind its low low cost routes – and in some cases a better bet than some of the legacy carriers.  An interesting tacit…