If you’re one of those travelers who leaps out of their seat the second the plane touches down, consider this your warning: Turkey’s had enough.
Air travel is already filled with its fair share of annoyances: long queues, delays, cramped seats. But one universal gripe seems to unite passengers around the world: the aisle rushers. You know the type… the second the wheels hit the tarmac, they’re up, yanking their bags from the overhead bin while the rest of the cabin collectively rolls its eyes.
Now, Turkey is officially cracking down.
The Turkish Directorate General of Civil Aviation, led by Kemal Yüksek, has issued a directive to cabin crews: passengers who disregard the disembarkation order by standing before the plane has fully stopped or barging into the aisle before it’s their row’s turn may now face official penalties.
In a recent announcement, Yüksek stated that those who fail to “respect the disembarkation priority of the passengers in front of or around them” can be reported to authorities and hit with an administrative fine under Turkey‘s aviation regulations.
So how much will that impulsive aisle dash cost you? According to The Washington Post, the fine could reach 2,603 Turkish lira, roughly $67 USD.
The new rules cover several behaviors that have become all too common on flights:
- Unbuckling seat belts too early
- Standing before the plane stops taxiing
- Opening overhead bins prematurely
- Rushing the aisle ahead of your row
These moves, officials warn, don’t just disrupt order, they jeopardize passenger safety and show a disregard for fellow travelers.
So if you’re flying to or through Turkey anytime soon, stay buckled, stay seated, and stay patient. That extra 90 seconds of waiting could save you a fine, and the scorn of every other passenger on board.