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Samoa Air has become first airline in world to base fares on passenger's weight. national carrier of South Pacific island nation has discarded traditional pricing model of asking fliers to pay for seat and instead has moved to price-per-kilogram structure. airline flies domestically between country's two main islands and has started international flights to American Samoa and Tonga. Travellers pay price of around US$1 per kilogram on shorter routes, and over US$4 on longer flights. Samoa Air CEO Chris Langton said new initiative would help promote health awareness in Samoa, which has one of world's highest rates of obesity.

Reaction to new pricing scheme has been mixed. spokeswoman from New Zealand-based campaign group Fight Obesity Epidemic vehemently opposed new fares. She said: "I think that's absolutely appalling. It's stigmatisation of people, and really, just powerfully discriminating." Samoan community leader said he appreciated that weight was key for airlines. He told New Zealand Herald: "I weigh 200kg. I would be okay to pay fare, provided it's reasonable, but I don't think it's good excuse saying that they're trying to promote healthy living - that's lame reason." Many industry analysts believe other airlines will follow suit in charging overweight passengers extra.