Easyjet to Introduce Allocated Seating

Good news from Easyjet this morning, and probably something lots of us have been waiting for Easyjet to introduce for some time.   Allocated seating is to be introduced on all Easyjet flights from November 2012 after a trial period was held this summer.

Passengers will be allocated a seat for free. However, those wanting to guarantee where they will be sitting will be charged.

There will be 3 bands of pricing, dependent on the seat selected:

£12 for extra leg room [front row and exit rows]
£8 for up front seating [row 2-5 on A319 or row 2-6 on A320]
£3 for any other seat

Easyjet have said "Passengers who do not wish to pay to select their seat will be allocated a seat free of charge.  Passengers travelling on the same booking will be seated together wherever possible by the airlines reservation system which uses the most advanced seating algorithm in world aviation".

Research among 800,000 passengers on 6,000 trial flights found that more than 70% thought allocated seating was better than the budget airline's 'first come, first served' system, due to the improved boarding experience.

Phased introduction starts on November 13 from Gatwick South, Luton, Stansted, Southend, Bristol and Glasgow.

This will be followed on November 20 by Gatwick North and then November 27 by Belfast, Edinburgh, Liverpool, Manchester and Newcastle.