Excess baggage on domestic flights to cost more

Airlines are expected to hike their baggage charges as Delhi High Court has struck down the June 10, 2016 circular of Director General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) that capped charges for excess checked-in baggage at Rs 100 per kg for 15-20 kg on private flights. Airlines were earlier free to charge any amount as excess baggage charge beyond 20 kg but can now do so beyond 15 kg itself. SpiceJet has hiked its excess baggage pre-booking charges for domestic flyers with immediate effect. While passengers can check-in up to 15 kg without any extra charge, the airline will now charge Rs 1,425 for checking in anything between 15-20 kg, up from Rs 500 earlier. Similarly, SpiceJet’s pre-booking charges for the next slab of 20-30 kg is now Rs 2,850, up from Rs 2,000 earlier. The charges for the next slabs—30-45 kg, 45-65 kg and 65-95 kg—are now Rs 4,275, Rs 5,700 and Rs 8,550 respectively. The old charges used to be Rs 3,500, Rs 4,667 and Rs 8,000, respectively. SpiceJet passengers who do not pre-book excess baggage will have to pay Rs 300 per kg for beyond the allowed 15kg limit at airport counters. However, in Air India, economy class domestic flyers can check in up to 25 kg without any charge. “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 reportedly said in a statement.

Source: Times of India