The airline, criticised for considering other money-making schemes including charging people to go to the toilet, said 16 000 people had voted in an online poll on how to charge larger passengers.

The most popular suggestion was to charge per kilo (over 130 kg for men, 100 kg for women); followed by charging for a second seat if the passenger's waist touched both armrests, charging for every point over 40 in the Body Mass Index (BMI), or for every inch of waist above 45 inches for men (40 inches for women).

But in the end the Ryanair ditched the idea, "because there is no way to collect it without disrupting its 25-minute turnarounds and its online check-in process," it said in a statement.

"Over 30 000 Ryanair passengers called for a ‘fat tax’ for very large passengers," said the airline's Stephen McNamara.

"However, as all passengers will soon be checking in online we have no way of collecting a ‘fat tax’ without disrupting our unrivalled punctuality," he added.

"Ryanair will continue to examine avoidable discretionary charges, which are paid for by some passengers but help lower fares for all passengers."

AFP