ANA asks passengers to go to toilet before boarding

TOKYO —

All Nippon Airways is taking its weight-saving efforts to new heights, asking passengers on some of its flights to visit the restroom before flying. The unusual request is one of a number of measures being tried out by ANA to reduce fuel consumption.

ANA estimates that if half its passengers went to the bathroom before boarding, it could reduce its carbon dioxide emissions by 4.2 tons a month, said company spokeswoman Megumi Tezuka.

The airline will also recycle paper cups and plastic bottles, and use chopsticks produced from wood from forest thinning projects, as part of its efforts to become more environmentally friendly.

The measures are being trialed on 38 domestic flights and four international flights—on the Tokyo-Singapore route—during October.

The move follows earlier steps by airlines to reduce the weight of flights by trimming the size of in-flight magazines, slimming the handles of forks and spoons and using lighter drink trolleys and porcelain.

Wire reports

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Latest 15 of 47 Total Comments Show All

stirfry at 06:24 PM JST - 15th October

it is common sense so I think Ana thinks passengers are stupid and gives them orders as if all the passengers are 6 years old and cannot think with their heads.

most of ANAs passengers are locals, so its easy to do the math
ultradodgy at 08:54 PM JST - 15th October

It's much nicer to use the airport bathrooms anyway.

Kind of shocking they're only now just starting to recycle basic goods.
Nessie at 08:59 PM JST - 15th October

Are they actually going to make passengers go to the loo before boarding?

Yes. Recalcitrant customers will be given three cups of coffee and a fifth of gin by way of encouragement.

Hmmm...I could get behind this.
dolphingirl at 10:03 PM JST - 15th October

I'm all for saving energy and being eco-friendly but this is taking things a bit far. And, like other people have said, it's shocking that they weren't recycling before.
InTheKnow at 11:21 PM JST - 15th October

Someone in Planning at ANA needs to re-prioritize his work goals.
knews at 11:22 PM JST - 15th October

Asking people to use the bathroom before flying is fine. More like "reminding" them to do so I think. And if it does help the environment a bit, why not? I always go just before boarding anyway as it can always take longer than you think to get airborne and they turn the fasten seatbelt sign off...
mikihouse at 07:06 AM JST - 16th October

its so funny that people keep on saying save the environment, decrease carbon dioxide emmissions, its global warming and all that stuffs but when measures hits home, people starts to ridicue these policies. Its like Al gore going around the world pleading people to save the earth but he is not willing to decrease his electric consumption and other measures to save the earth. Yeah, easy talk. Airplanes are major carbon dioxide emitters. Yup, almost 20% of emitted CO2 are coming from planes yet Earth lovers go around by planes and say save the earth. Makes my day.

Anyway, only works if you think global warming is caused by CO2.
anderstungtwist at 07:10 AM JST - 16th October

ANA should give people a dose of ex-lax before boarding.
maryhinge at 07:39 AM JST - 16th October

Maybe they should change the name to APA.
The758 at 08:36 AM JST - 16th October

As long as they're not locking the restrooms off, this doesn't bother me. The last time I flew internationally (12 hours?) I only went twice. I'm in favor of suitcase weight restrictions, however. People try to bring half their worldly possesions on board.
ReikiZen at 09:14 PM JST - 16th October

You know without all that extra weight people are carrying around might help ANA flights get better gas mileage lol. Not only that but people won't have to be annoyed by someone using the bathroom anymore. Next thing you know they will be asked to be weighed in before flying. Sorry sir you have reached our acceptable weight limit for carbon emissions for this flight. You will need to schedule another flight.
kp123 at 02:55 AM JST - 18th October

I was bemused at first about ANA's approach to going green and the toilet issue; but ended up gaffawing. Since most flights inside Japan are manageable between pit-stops to the lavatory, knowing the Japanese not many if any will head for the head in the plane during the trip. They don't want to stick out from the crowd. I love Japan and this is one example of why.
tclh at 11:06 AM JST - 18th October

Amazing fact:Do you know that by going to the toilet before boarding, you can help to reduce green house effect?...kind of a suggestion will be more acceptable and get more co-operarion if passengers care enough to read the sign.
DeepAir65 at 04:56 PM JST - 18th October

It is common sense but how many times have you seen a Japanese person get up and go to the toilet after boarding and before the seat belt signs are turned off? For me that would be pretty much every flight - on my last flight which was a non Japanese carrier the Japanese lady got told to sit back down but Japanese attendants on Japanese flights don't seem to do that...

Not sure if this is a weight saving eco thing - sounds more like a safety thing
mrsynik at 05:35 PM JST - 19th October

As I'm reading this story there is an ad for Korean Air Lines beside it. I think it's trying to say something about this story.