Excess baggage fee in domestic flights may see 300% hike

Agencies
August 18, 2017

New Delhi, Aug 18: Economy class passengers carrying more than 15kg check-in baggage on domestic flights may now have to pay almost thrice as much for the first five kilos.

Low cost carrier (LCC) SpiceJet is considering raising the Rs 500 pre-booking charge for carrying 20kg to Rs 1,425.

Hikes are also being contemplated for pre-booking in other weight bands beyond 20kg. Moreover, those checking-in more than 15kg without pre-booking may end up shelling out Rs 300 per kg.

"This is a proposal that we are considering. A final decision will be taken shortly," said a SpiceJet source. The new charges, if finalised, will be implemented from Friday itself. The move comes after the Delhi high court stuck down DGCA's order of Rs 100 per kg cap on excess baggage fee for the 15-20kg band on Wednesday. A senior DGCA official said, "We are studying the HC order to see the reasons why our order has been set aside. We will take legal opinion and then decide on whether to go in for an appeal against the HC order."

Other airlines are likely to follow suit. Only Air India said that economy class domestic flyers can check-in up to 25kg without a charge.

Even if airlines do not hike their existing charges, the impact on flyers checking-in 20kg can be significant if they implement the charge kept for beyond 20kg to beyond 15kg now. For instance, two low cost carriers (LCC) charge Rs 300 and Rs 350 per kg as excess baggage fee for domestic travel beyond the allowed limit. A full service airline charges Rs 500 per kg from economy passengers carrying beyond 20kg.

The higher charges used to start from over 20 kg due to the DGCA cap of Rs 100 on the 15-20 kg band. Now with that set aside, airlines are free to charge the higher fees they had for over 20 kg check-in baggage from over 15 kg itself now. No airline formally commented on what their policy for excess check-in baggage fees will be after Wednesday's HC order. "We are just waiting for someone to make the first move and then the rest will follow. Only AI can offer higher baggage limit as the airline is headed in a different direction (referring to impending sell off),"said an airline official.

AirAsia India, when launched in 2014, did not want to give any free check-in baggage to passengers and was directed by DGCA to allow 15 kg check-in baggage - like all other Indian carriers -to domestic flyers without any extra fee. 

"We welcome this change proposed by the Delhi High court on the excess baggage fees. We will however evaluate this internally and see how this can be beneficial to both the guests as well as the airline, as we continue our endeavor to make flying affordable for all,"AirAsia India said in a statement.

Comments

Wellwisher
 - 
Friday, 18 Aug 2017

All price hike to be with Indian Air Act Limoration. Air Lines has no right to hike any flight charge. Dear brothers please study about implemented by the Central Goverment.

 

Add new comment

  • Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
  • Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
  • Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
  • Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.
News Network
May 13,2020

Lucknow , May 13: Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav on Wednesday took a jibe at Prime Minister Narendra Modi over announcing Rs 20 lakh crore special economic package to boost the economy saying that the Centre is again making "false promises to 133 crore Indians".

"Earlier, you promised Rs 15 lakh and now Rs 20 lakh crore. You have made false promises 133 times with 133 crore Indians. How can someone trust you this time? People now are not asking how many zeroes there are but how many false promises have been made," he tweeted (translated from Hindi).

Yesterday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had announced a Rs 20 lakh crore economic stimulus package for the country fighting COVID-19, stating that it will give a new impetus and a new direction to the self-reliant India campaign.

The Prime Minister had also announced that the fourth phase of lockdown will be completely redesigned with new rules and will commence from May 18.

Comments

Add new comment

  • Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
  • Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
  • Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
  • Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.
News Network
February 29,2020

New Delhi, Feb 29: The father of Intelligence Bureau staffer Ankit Sharma, whose body was pulled out of a drain in northeast Delhi's riot-hit Chand Bagh, complained to police that goons had assembled at the residence of former AAP counselor Tahir Hussain and were throwing petrol bombs from the rooftop.

According to the FIR which was registered on Thursday on the basis of the complaint lodged by Ankit's father Ravinder, the goons were also firing from the rooftop.

On Tuesday, Ankit returned from his office at 5 pm and then went outside to buy groceries. When he did not return, the family started looking for him and later filed a missing report, the FIR stated.

They got to know from their neighbours that a body has been recovered from a drain… later it was found to be that of Anikt, it said, adding the body had multiple stab injuries on the face, head, back, and chest.

The family has alleged in the FIR that it was Hussain and the goons at his residence who killed Ankit. In the FIR, Hussain has been accused of murder, destruction of evidence and abduction.

Soon after the FIR was registered on Thursday, the AAP suspended Tahir Hussain from the primary membership of the party till the police completed its probe.

The death toll in Delhi's communal violence rose to 42 on Friday as the situation showed some signs of returning to normalcy and clouds of smoke cleared to reveal the extent of the damage from the worst riots in the city in over three decades.

A total of 148 FIRs have been registered and 630 people have been either arrested or detained so far in connection with the communal violence, a Delhi Police spokesperson said.

Comments

Add new comment

  • Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
  • Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
  • Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
  • Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.
News Network
April 4,2020

Mumbai, Apr 4: As many as six Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) personnel stationed at Mumbai airport in Maharashtra have tested positive for coronavirus, taking the total number of positive cases among the central force to 11. The first case of a CISF jawan being diagnosed with the viral disease was reported on March 28. 

After the first case, the armed police force reported four more cases of COVID-19 among the personnel stationed at the airport on Thursday. On the same day, the CISF collected samples of 146 staff and sent them to Kasturba hospital for testing. The results, which arrived on Friday, recorded six more COVID-19 cases among, reported news agency.

The personnel were posted at Kharghar adjoining Mumbai, a senior official told news agency.

As of now, there are 14 COVID-19 cases in Panvel Municipal Corporation (PMC) area in Mumbai. Kharghar comes under the civic body's jurisdiction.

All the 146 CISF personnel were shifted to a quarantine centre at a facility at Kamothe reported the Times of India.

Maharashtra reported 67 new COVID-19 cases, taking the total tally to 490. A total of 26 deaths have been reported in the state.  

In the meantime, the Centre on Friday said there is no shortage of medical supplies across the country to fight COVID-19 outbreak.

"The government of India is making sure that all the essential medical supplies are in place to fight COVID-19. Sixty-two lifeline Udan flights transported over 15.4 tons of essential medical supplies in the last five days," Union Minister for Chemical and Fertilisers DV Sadanada Gowda said in a tweet.

The government is also paying full attention to the manufacturing activities of essential items like pharmaceuticals and hospital devices. For this, over 200 units in Special Economic Zones (SEZs)  are operational, he added.

"A Central Control Room has also been set up for close monitoring of the distribution of essential medical items and to address logistic related issues," Gowda said.

Comments

Add new comment

  • Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
  • Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
  • Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
  • Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.