easyJet has confirmed it will introduce allocated seating on all of its flights – typically over 1,000 a day - from today.

The airline trialled allocated seating in April with nearly two million passengers flying on 12,500 allocated seating flights. 

In response to the trial’s success, the airline took the decision to roll out allocated seating across the whole network.

easyJet trialled allocated seating because passenger research showed that the boarding process could be a source of stress for some customers and in some case, a barrier to them flying with easyJet. 

The key tests of the trial were to improve passenger satisfaction without impacting easyJet’s ability to deliver industry leading punctuality – all of which were achieved on trial flights.

Research among passengers who have travelled on an easyJet allocated seating flight has shown that 71 per cent think allocated seating is better due to the improved boarding experience, while over 60 per cent said that they are more likely to fly with easyJet in the future as a result.

Paul Simmons, easyJet’s UK Director, commented: “Today’s move offering allocated seating on all of our flights is the single, biggest change the airline has undertaken in its history and an example of easyJet trying to do all it can to make travel easy and affordable for our passengers. 

“Our customers told us allocated seating was important to them and the extensive trial has delivered positive feedback across Europe.

“Allocated seating provides a better boarding experience and gives passengers the added choice of selecting a seat for those who want to.

“Thanks to a sophisticated algorithm, passengers who do not wish to pay to select their seat will be seated with the other passengers in their booking the majority of the time.

“We are confident this move will not only make our current passengers happier when flying with easyJet but will also encourage new customers to choose to fly with us.”

All passengers will be allocated a seat for free on easyJet’s flights but will have the choice of selecting a specific seat for a fee when they book flights, or adding them later to guarantee where they’ll be sitting.

easyJet is considered the World’s Leading Low-cost Airline by the prestigious World Travel Awards.