The European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) said Monday it planned to force airlines to offer more legroom to economy-class passengers, pointing out that customers are getting both taller and fatter, according to dpa. Most airlines offer the cheapest class of seats with a a pitch, or distance from one seat edge to the matching edge in front, of only 80 centimetres, a spokeswoman said at EASA's office in the German city of Cologne. The agency will insist that pitch is a safety issue because tight seats could hamper emergency evacuations. EASA prescribes that all occupants must be able to leave a plane using slides within 90 seconds. It will also cite health grounds, with a lack of leg movement blamed for a greater risk of deep-vein thrombosis. Seat pitch is chosen by airlines when they buy planes. The ordnance, which would follow consultations with planemakers and other nations' agencies, would affect any airlines flying to Europe. "Our aim is to settle it in 2008 or even to incorporate it by then in plane-construction guidelines," the spokeswoman said. This would make greater legroom for all mandatory in both Airbus and Boeing airliners. EASA could only enforce the rule for existing planes if its authority were increased.
