Ryanair closing rear of a/c on non-full flights

[Self Loading Freight]

Something that I've noticed a few times but don't understand - why does Ryanair close off the rear rows of seats on planes that aren't full? Came back from Stockholm Skavsta (has anyone been to the F11 Museum there?) at the weekend, and the flight was three-quarters full - giving us Ryanistas a better chance of a bit of lateral clearance to compensate for the veal-crate class legroom. Or would have, if the last six rows hadn't been sealed off by a cunning cats cradle of seatbelts and trays.

"The seats are closed because the flight isn't full" was the (often required) response of the scratchcard salespeople when some innocent tried to occupy the temptingly empty rows. Try as I might, I can't think of a good reason for this. The best I can do is some sort of load balancing that saves fuel, but I can't see how that might work. What's going on?

R

(oh, and Ryanair peeved a lot of people on that flight in another way. They were flogging Stansted Express tickets, but didn't mention that the service was suspended for track repairs - that, combined with SE's baroque system for claiming money back, caused a lot of angry mutterings in the queue for the rail replacement coach)

[BRS_Dispatch]

Its called Loading Rule 2. Basically its for weight and balance reasons. To quote Ryanair's load sheets

737-800
0.4 Trim Units may be subtracted from the aft and added to the forward ZF and TO balance units if
a) No passengers are seated in the forward 6 and aft 4 seat rows. Maximum 132 passengers
b) 177 passengers or more carried

737-200
0.6 Trim Units may besubtracted from the ZF and TO Balance limits if no passengers are seated in the first 5 rows and last 5 rows. Also the difference in the No. of passengers fwd and aft of the overwing exits should not exceed 10 passengers.

[WHBM]

I too was aware that the closing of seat rows on Ryanair was a Weight & Balance issue but I've always been curious why it only afflicts them and no other airline I've experienced who operate the same aircraft types and open seating (eg Easy or Soutwest). Meanwhile more mainstream operators never seem to have the same issue either, like some trunk routes at weekends when the premium seats at the front are almost empty but the Y section is full.

[CARR30]

Surely Ryanair can't be expected to know the exact state of the line to Liverpool Street.
Not even Network Rail or the One-kers who run the trains have that knowledge.

[Maude Charlee]

Part of the problem lies in the fact that Ryanair a/c are fitted out slightly differently to the 737's operated by the other lo-cos (something to do with the galleys), which gives them a different centre of gravity and trim position. This means that they tend to have what might be regarded 'non-standard' loading compared to the other operators; i.e, bags loaded in the front hold rather than the rear, and the requirement to close off seats at the front and rear of the aircraft to maintain the aircraft in trim.

[TightSlot]

During a recent conversation with a pilot I was told that this kind of issue becomes more important on longer, thinner aircraft: Hence a 737-800 (Ryanair) is more critical than a -700 (easyJet) or a -500 (Baby). On low pax loads on 757 & 767 aircraft (esp. -300) we are sometimes required to seat pax for trim.

[jb5000]

After all this we'll probably find out its because it means its 6 rows they do not have to think about cleaning, thus saving 43.8 seconds on the turn around.....:uhoh:

[Omaha]

I told this story on JB once but hell I can tell it again.

I was boarding a FR flight once & I noticed that there appeared to be very few pax boarding. Now I'm rather partial to a window seat not over the wing for the best view I can get now that I'm barred from the cockpit cause of 9/11 :* Not anxious to be asked to move once I'd plonked myself down I enquired of the FA should I sit near the centre to balance the aircraft. The captain who was standing beside her looking rather bored brightened up quickly with the quip

It depends how much shopping you bought
To which I replied
You cheeky devil you! :D
No, before anyone asks, I did not get thrown off the aircraft. :E