The airline weighs passengers upon boarding to better estimate the aircraft’s weight.

Tickets, passport and weigh-in soon? For the Finnish company Finnair, this became a reality on Monday, February 5, CNN reports. At Helsinki Airport (Finland), passengers on the company’s flights can now be voluntarily weighed along with their hand luggage.

This initiative, already undertaken by Air New Zealand and Korean Air on the other side of the globe, allows for a more realistic calculation of the estimated weight on board an aircraft before takeoff.

Weigh-ins are not linked to individual bookings or passenger data. “Everything is anonymous and only the staff at the gate sees the weight,” Päivit Tallqvist, Finnair’s first vice president, told CNN. As of February 8, 800 volunteer passengers had already been weighed, which was a “positive surprise” for the airline, which was not expecting such a large number of passengers. During the winter season they plan to weigh 1,200 passengers, and more in the summer.

Why weigh passengers?

Before each takeoff, the airline must calculate the weight of the aircraft. This includes people on board, checked baggage, onboard food and water tank. This also allows the aircraft’s center of gravity to be determined. Overall weight can indeed affect seating arrangements, the number of passengers allowed on board, and the amount of checked baggage.

Each aircraft has a maximum weight allowed for takeoff. However, airlines have no way of knowing the exact weight of passengers and their carry-on luggage. In Europe they must simply maintain the average weight determined by the European Union Aviation Safety Agency. “At the same time, we know the weight of all other elements of the aircraft,” insists Päivit Tallqvist.

The data collected by the company will not be associated with the passenger concerned, assures Satu Munnuka, in charge of ground checks: “We record the total weight and general information about the client and his hand luggage, but we do not ask for a name or booking number, for example,” he specified.