Japan's All Nippon Airways (ANA) will be providing one lavatory on most of its international flights for women only. The airline says that it's in response to customer requests.

In case you forgot, ANA is the airline that had urged its passengers "go to the bathroom" before boarding a flight to save on extra weight. ANA had estimated that if half its passengers went to the bathroom before boarding, it could reduce its carbon dioxide emissions by 4.2 tons a month. Its latest offering, a washroom for women only, is in response to a survey in which 90 per cent of women found the idea appealing. The airline says that one lavatory will be provided in the rear of its international aircraft and can be used by women in all seating classes.

In a report by Reuters, an ANA official stated that women do not like using shared toilets as men sometimes leave the seat up, adding that demand for women-only toilets was especially high among passengers taking long flights. Men would be allowed to use the lavatory only in emergencies or when there were very few female passengers on the flight, the ANA statement said. To put things in perspective, the ANA official mentioned that South Korea's Korean Air has been offering similar facilities and ANA rival Japan Airlines designates lavatories for priority use by women.

Gender-specific lavatories on airplanes are not entirely new to the industry. Do you agree that airlines are merely responding to passenger requests? We pay different fares; we sit in different classes; we choose our seats based on personal preferences. Has the last great equalizer in the flight experience been removed?