欧洲廉价航空拟推4英镑"站票"

    欧洲廉价航空瑞安航空公司近期表示将推出票价仅为4英镑的“站票”，乘客可以站着斜靠在一块板上，背部有软垫，肘部有扶手，胸部有安全防护横挡。该航空公司首席执行官表示，他们会将250架飞机内后十排的座位和两个卫生间拆除，改装为15排直立座位，这样每个航班就可以多运送50名乘客。欧洲航空安全局表示，瑞安航空此举并无先例可循，近期内得到运行许可的可能性并不大。安全局方面指出，航空安全法规定机上每个乘客必须有一个“座位”或者“铺位”，而他们这个直立座位并不在规定范围内。不过，瑞安的执行官对此并不在意，他表示直立座位的安全测试将于明年进行，在全面推广之前将只在飞行时间1小时内的航班中使用。届时，购买站票的乘客使用机上卫生间也需要额外支付1英镑的费用。
    Air passengers might soon be able to fly from just ?4, with ample leg room to boot. There’s just one small catch, it seems – they’ll have to stand.
    European budget airline Ryanair says it is planning to allow passengers to fly standing¹ up in vertical² seats. Passengers would be restrained with a strap³ stretching over their shoulder, the airline said.
    But the bizarre initiative ran into an immediate⁴ obstacle. European aviation safety regulators said the perches⁵ would not meet safety rules.
    Ryanair’s chief executive Michael O’Leary went ahead regardless with his announcement of plans to remove the back ten rows of seats from 250 planes and replace them with 15 rows of so-called ‘vertical seating’. Two lavatories⁶ at the back could also be removed, helping⁷ to allow up to 50 extra passengers on each flight.
    Mr O’Leary told ITV1’s How To Beat The Budget Airlines that safety testing would begin next year, when a ?1 charge to use toilets will be introduced.
    Ryanair hopes to phase in the perches on commuter⁸ flights of up to an hour long before expanding them to all aircraft.
    Aviation law states that people have to have a seat belt on for take-off, landing and turbulence⁹. A final decision on whether the perches meet the rules would rest with the European Aviation Safety Agency based in Cologne, Germany.
    But last night it dismissed the Ryanair plan as a stunt¹⁰.
    ‘To our knowledge, no airlines or other operators have made an application for stand-up seats,’ a spokesman said.
    What they are proposing would be unprecedented¹¹ and highly unlikely to be certified¹² in the near future.
    ‘Stand-up seating would require changes to European rules for the certification of aircraft.
    ‘The current rules determine that each passenger has to be provided with “a seat or, if they are immobile, a berth”. This is neither.’
    The publicity¹³ has certainly succeeded in distracting attention from Ryanair’s controversial introduction yesterday of ‘big baggage’ charge rises.
    Checking in a suitcase will cost up to ?80 over the summer.
    The vertical seating idea also comes days after the airline announced it was slashing¹⁴ its winter services by 16 per cent and carrying 2million fewer passengers.
    Boeing, which supplies Ryanair’s fleet of 273 737-800 passenger jets said: ‘We are not considering standing-only accommodations.
    ‘Stringent regulatory requirements – including seats capable of withstanding a force of 16 times gravity – pretty much preclude¹⁵ such an arrangement.’
    But Ryanair spokesman Stephen McNamara said: ‘We are confident the seats can pass safety tests.
    ‘Boeing can put a man on the moon so I am sure they are able to make these a success. ‘Seats are lighter¹⁶ and the carbon footprint will be smaller, as more seats fit into a smaller area.’
    Mr O’Leary has manipulated the media to publicise his airline in the past.
    ‘Standing room only’ was mooted¹⁷ back in 2006 when a prototype ‘perch seat’ was unveiled. On that occasion, Ryanair later dismissed the idea as ‘a joke’.

1 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
• They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。

2 vertical   

adj.垂直的，顶点的，纵向的；n.垂直物，垂直的位置

参考例句：

• The northern side of the mountain is almost vertical.这座山的北坡几乎是垂直的。
• Vertical air motions are not measured by this system.垂直气流的运动不用这种系统来测量。

3 strap   

n.皮带，带子；v.用带扣住，束牢；用绷带包扎

参考例句：

• She held onto a strap to steady herself.她抓住拉手吊带以便站稳。
• The nurse will strap up your wound.护士会绑扎你的伤口。

4 immediate   

adj.立即的；直接的，最接近的；紧靠的

参考例句：

• His immediate neighbours felt it their duty to call.他的近邻认为他们有责任去拜访。
• We declared ourselves for the immediate convocation of the meeting.我们主张立即召开这个会议。

5 perches   

栖息处( perch的名词复数 )； 栖枝； 高处； 鲈鱼

参考例句：

• Other protection can be obtained by providing wooden perches througout the orchards. 其它保护措施是可在种子园中到处设置木制的栖木。
• The birds were hopping about on their perches and twittering. 鸟儿在栖木上跳来跳去，吱吱地叫着。

6 lavatories   

n.厕所( lavatory的名词复数 )；抽水马桶；公共厕所（或卫生间、洗手间、盥洗室）；浴室水池

参考例句：

• But there would be no public lavatories in a quarter like this. 可是在这样的地方是找不到公共厕所的。 来自英汉文学
• The lavatories are at the rear of the cabin. 盥洗室在机舱的尾部。 来自互联网

7 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

8 commuter   

n.(尤指市郊之间)乘公交车辆上下班者

参考例句：

• Police cordoned off the road and diverted commuter traffic. 警察封锁了道路并分流交通。
• She accidentally stepped on his foot on a crowded commuter train. 她在拥挤的通勤列车上不小心踩到了他的脚。

9 turbulence   

n.喧嚣，狂暴，骚乱，湍流

参考例句：

• The turbulence caused the plane to turn over.空气的激流导致飞机翻转。
• The world advances amidst turbulence.世界在动荡中前进。

10 stunt   

n.惊人表演，绝技，特技；vt.阻碍...发育，妨碍...生长

参考例句：

• Lack of the right food may stunt growth.缺乏适当的食物会阻碍发育。
• Right up there is where the big stunt is taking place.那边将会有惊人的表演。

11 unprecedented   

adj.无前例的，新奇的

参考例句：

• The air crash caused an unprecedented number of deaths.这次空难的死亡人数是空前的。
• A flood of this sort is really unprecedented.这样大的洪水真是十年九不遇。

12 certified   

a.经证明合格的；具有证明文件的

参考例句：

• Doctors certified him as insane. 医生证明他精神失常。
• The planes were certified airworthy. 飞机被证明适于航行。

13 publicity   

n.众所周知，闻名；宣传，广告

参考例句：

• The singer star's marriage got a lot of publicity.这位歌星的婚事引起了公众的关注。
• He dismissed the event as just a publicity gimmick.他不理会这件事，只当它是一种宣传手法。

14 slashing   

adj.尖锐的；苛刻的；鲜明的；乱砍的v.挥砍( slash的现在分词 )；鞭打；割破；削减

参考例句：

• Slashing is the first process in which liquid treatment is involved. 浆纱是液处理的第一过程。 来自辞典例句
• He stopped slashing his horse. 他住了手，不去鞭打他的马了。 来自辞典例句

15 preclude   

vt.阻止，排除，防止；妨碍

参考例句：

• We try to preclude any possibility of misunderstanding.我们努力排除任何误解的可能性。
• My present finances preclude the possibility of buying a car.按我目前的财务状况我是不可能买车的。

16 lighter   

n.打火机，点火器；驳船；v.用驳船运送；light的比较级

参考例句：

• The portrait was touched up so as to make it lighter.这张画经过润色，色调明朗了一些。
• The lighter works off the car battery.引燃器利用汽车蓄电池打火。

17 mooted   

adj.未决定的，有争议的，有疑问的v.提出…供讨论( moot的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The is sue was mooted on the Senate floor. 该问题在参院被提出讨论。 来自辞典例句
• The question mooted in the board meeting is still a moot point. 那个在董事会上（提出讨论）的问题仍（未决的）。 来自互联网