Airlines’ recent decision on reducing fees for an extra five kg luggage will be of great relief to frequent travelers. The officials of airlines said that passengers would now have to pay less for an extra five kg luggage. The Ministry of Civil Aviation has set that the airlines will charge only Rs. 100 per kg for an additional luggage against Rs. 300 at present. The reduced fee would be applicable for five kg of luggage only. Currently, most of the airlines allow 15 kg of free luggage except Air India, which allows 25 kg luggage. Therefore, with the recent declaration, the passengers will have to pay only Rs. 500 instead of fee of Rs. 1,250 to Rs. 1,750 in various airlines.
The recent move of lower fee charges on additional luggage is a welcomed move by ministry. It will allow passengers to pay reasonable charges for additional luggage. Even though this will hit the marginal revenue of the airlines, still the benefits provided to the travelers will lead to happy customers. The ministry is also considering announcing few passenger-centric initiatives such as low luggage fees and cancellation charge should not exceed the base fare of the ticket.