Fly Naked On Germany's First Nudist Holiday Flight

German nudists will be able to start their holidays early by stripping off on the plane if they take up a new offer from a local travel firm.

The German travel agency says it will start taking bookings beginning Friday for a 'trial' nudist day trip from the eastern German town of Erfurt to the popular Baltic Sea resort of Usedom, planned for July 5 and costing 499 euros.

"It's expensive, I know," managing director Enrico Hess says but it isn't because you get to fly naked. "It's because the plane's very small. There's no real reason why a flight in which one flies naked should be more expensive than any other."

The 55 passengers will have to remain clothed until they board and the crew will remain clothed throughout the flight for 'safety reasons'.

"I wish I could say we thought of it ourselves but the idea came from a customer," Hess says. "It's an unusual gap in the market."

Naturism, or 'free body culture' (FKK) as it is known in Germany, was banned by the Nazis but blossomed again after the Second World War, particularly in eastern Germany. "There are FKK hotels where you can go into the restaurants and shops naked, for example. For FKK fans -- not that I'm one of them -- it's nothing unusual."

"I don't want people to get the wrong idea. It's not that we're starting a swinger club in mid-air or something like that. We're a perfectly normal holiday company."

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