Flying into Turkey? Wait your turn to stand up on the plane or face a fine

When an aircraft lands at its destination, there are two kinds of people waiting to disembark: those waiting for their aisle’s turn before standing to retrieve luggage and those immediately standing to retrieve their bags from overhead when the seatbelt light turns off. Effective May 2, those who do the latter when landing in Turkey could be fined. The country’s ministry of transport introduced the new regulation in response to “a serious increase” in the number of travellers doing so even before the plane had finished taxiing to the gate and with the seatbelt warning still in place, despite the established norm and the warning from the flight crew.

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Doing so risks “passenger and baggage safety and security” and disregards “the satisfaction and exit priority of other passengers,” wrote General Directorate of Civil Aviation Kemal Yüsek. A suggested flight announcement in English reminds travellers to stay seated and asks them to “please respect the disembarkation priority of the passengers in front of or around you and wait for your turn. “Do not stand up or proceed in the aisle before it is your turn to exit. Passengers who do not comply with the rules will be reported … and an administrative fine will be imposed in accordance with the applicable legal regulations.” The fine will come from the government, not the airline, whose role is only to file a “passenger ignorance report” to Yüsek’s office. It’s not clear precisely how much travellers risk being fined for their transgression; however, the Independent , the Daily Mail and the Mirror quoted a price of £50 (CAD$93), citing Germany’s DPA news agency as a source. Turkish Airlines, the behemoth flagship carrier that flies to a world-leading 131 countries , has already adopted the boilerplate sample on its flights, according to travel blogger site One Mile at a Time and Visa Digital Nomad. At long-running travel site View From the Wing , blogger Gary Leff took on the sometimes polarizing topic and wrote earlier this year that not only is it acceptable, but more people should do it. He said it speeds up deplaning for everyone, and it’s courteous to the person hemmed in the middle seat. Furthermore, “You’ve been stuck in an uncomfortable seat for hours, why not stand as soon as you can?” Our website is the place for the latest breaking news, exclusive scoops, longreads and provocative commentary. Please bookmark nationalpost.com and sign up for our daily newsletter, Posted, here.