China's first budget carrier, Spring Airlines Co. is considering seeking permission to have passengers stand during a flight in exchange for a lower price, China National Radio reported Tuesday.

An illustration of standing seats on a flight. [Photo/jschina.com.cn]

While similar schemes have been studied by Ireland's Ryanair Holdings PL and others, Spring's plan originated with the carrier's chairman, Wang Zhenghua, back in 2008, when the annual Chinese New Year holiday travel rush made it hard for passengers to obtain rail and air tickets, a Spring Airlines spokesman told the radio program.

Still, aviation officials around the world have been reluctant to approve such an idea due to safety issues.

Spring Airlines previously made news by offering extremely cheap promotional air tickets priced as low as 9 yuan ($1.40).

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