A forbidden seat on a plane where no one can sit

An airplane seat that no one is allowed to sit in leaves travelers scratching their heads.

A photo of the forbidden seat, taken by eagle-eyed passenger Sven Wöste aboard a Croatia Airlines flight, shows it with the warning “DO NOT TAKE THIS SEAT” stitched into white text.

Wöste took this photo of seat 31E while sitting in the last aisle of an Airbus A220-300 aircraft.

The flight attendant also informed him that the passenger was not wearing a seat belt.

“It didn’t make sense to me because that’s where the strap attachment was,” he said. -It should be easier to put on a seat belt than this sewing.

Wöste posted a photo of his find in a Facebook group, prompting surprised viewers to come up with their own theories.

“Probably like an extra emergency seat for an airline employee or someone who absolutely needs to be on the plane when it’s full,” one person wrote.

“It’s much easier to keep people out of seats without seat belts, and they probably have an extra seat belt on the plane that can be installed if someone needs a car seat.”

Another commenter, who said he had worked in aircraft maintenance for 15 years, said there were “many reasons” why the seat would have to be empty and suggested it was probably “just broken.”

“It could be the armrest or the seat recline isn’t working,” the person said.

“Anyway, their procedure is to mark the seat and possibly remove the seat belt.”

One commenter suggested that passengers were “taken away” from being able to sit there so that the airline could save money, suggesting that if the plan had too many passengers, it would need to hire more flight attendants.

Another person liked the idea of ​​taking a seat next to an inaccessible place.

“The seats are so narrow these days that I can finally sit down without bumping my elbows into the next person,” the commenter wrote.

According to a Croatian news site AvioradarThe “ghost” seat must remain empty due to “complex safety regulations” and “financial feasibility”.

The Airbus A220-300 was initially intended to accommodate a maximum of 145 seats, in line with exit regulations that require each aircraft to have four doors and two over-the-wing exits.

In 2021, Airbus received approval from the European Union Aviation Safety Agency to increase the number of seats to 149 on each aircraft.

To remain safe with the new capacity, the evacuation slides for the overwing exits had to be modified to include two descent lines instead of one.

If a passenger were allowed to take the 150th seat, the plane would need a total of four over-the-wing exits, which would be a huge financial burden.

The seat map on the plane also shows that row 13 is missing from the plane.

“This will ensure that anyone who thinks the number 13 is unlucky will not have to sit in this row,” the airline said.

DailyMail.com has contacted Croatia Airlines for more information.