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A travel TikToker has ranked the top UK airlines to fly with as a plus-sized passenger – and British Airways was found to be the best fit.
Becky Price, a plus-size influencer from Wales, has reviewed airlines including British Airways, Tui, Ryanair and easyJet as a traveller between UK size 20 and 22.
Posting as @xbeckypricex on TikTok, she rated how plus size friendly it is to fly on UK airlines by testing seat size, seatbelt extenders and whether the tray table fully extends.
Becky, a frequent flyer, shares the reviews to reassure larger travellers that flying can be a comfortable experience.
“I’m a plus-size girl and I make no secret of that. Lots of plus-size people are frightened of flying due to the space available and whether they would fit”, she told MailOnline.
The self-styled ‘Plussize Gal’ added that she wishes airlines “would improve the space available”.
In a review on TikTok of a long-haul British Airways flight to Cancun, Becky said: “The seatbelt did just go across me, it did have a little bit of room but obviously they do carry extenders on board and there is no shame in asking.
Awarding the airline a 4.5 for comfort, she could “fully extend the tray table” with “a little bit of belly resting on top.”
Becky also shared a four out of five easyJet review that said: “The tray table would fully extend however the seatbelt was shorter than other airlines I’ve used and I did use the full length of the seatbelt.”
Tui fared similarly, with a seatbelt with “room to spare”, but seats that were criticised for not having “any room for movement”.
“It was even worse when the passenger in front put their seat back,” said Becky, awarding the airline four stars for overall comfort.
In December, Southwest Airlines was applauded for a new policy in which plus-size passengers who need it can use extra seats for free.
The “Customer of Size” policy was applauded by campaigners who have championed that carriers become more accommodating.
As for Ryanair, although the Irish airline impressed with a seatbelt that “fully does up” and the tray table that comes down with “absolutely loads of room”, Becky rated the airline’s comfort for plus-size passengers just 2.5 out of five overall.
From her experience, the plus-size traveller said Ryanair seatbelts are often different lengths so it is hard to predict if you will need an extender.
A plus-size passenger whose video asking for an extender for her seatbelt when flying went viral hit back at “fatphobes” who commented on her experience in January.
Samyra Miller shared a clip on TikTok that showed her waiting for the extender on a Delta flight in the US, before demonstrating how short the belts on the aircraft were.
