15kg-baggage rule hits int’l flyers on domestic routes
Chennai May Lose To Dubai, Colombo Over Excess Fee Hike
TIMES NEWS NETWORK
Chennai:25.06.2018
The hefty charges airlines have decided to levy for excess baggage on domestic routes has hit international travellers from small towns. Travellers who take a domestic flight from a small town and change to an international flight from a metro airport like Chennai or Mumbai may have to shell out ₹5,000 to ₹10,000 as they are allowed to carry only 15kg without charge. Passengers are allowed to carry 30kg to 50kg for free on foreign trips.
IndiGo, SpiceJet, Go Air and Jet Airways have hiked their excess baggage charges for weight carried above the 15kg free baggage allowance on domestic routes.
As direct flights are not available from all destinations, a majority of the travellers land from abroad at Chennai airport and take a connecting domestic flight to Madurai, Trichy or other smaller airports.
People are also forced to travel by multiple carriers because airlines do not have interline agreements for many routes. Air Passengers Association of India national president D Sudhakara Reddy said, “This is a huge inconvenience for travellers who fly domestic routes and then change over to international flights from gateway airports. The association will take this up with the Competition Commission of India as the increase clearly shows there is cartelisation among the airlines.”
He also said that very few airlines offer through checkin to an international destination from a small airport. “If airlines have interline agreement, passengers get this benefit. However, many of the low-cost carriers and full service carriers do not have the arrangement.”
Airlines use the hub and spoke model to bring people to gateway airports, but this may work only for select routes where the same airline will be offering the domestic and international connections. Basheer Ahmed of Metro Travels said, “After the new baggage policy, many passengers are hesitant to travel abroad via an Indian gateway city like Chennai, Mumbai or Delhi. Instead, they prefer to fly via Colombo, Dubai or Singapore because they will be able to carry the same baggage allowance for free.”
Chennai May Lose To Dubai, Colombo Over Excess Fee Hike
TIMES NEWS NETWORK
Chennai:25.06.2018
The hefty charges airlines have decided to levy for excess baggage on domestic routes has hit international travellers from small towns. Travellers who take a domestic flight from a small town and change to an international flight from a metro airport like Chennai or Mumbai may have to shell out ₹5,000 to ₹10,000 as they are allowed to carry only 15kg without charge. Passengers are allowed to carry 30kg to 50kg for free on foreign trips.
IndiGo, SpiceJet, Go Air and Jet Airways have hiked their excess baggage charges for weight carried above the 15kg free baggage allowance on domestic routes.
As direct flights are not available from all destinations, a majority of the travellers land from abroad at Chennai airport and take a connecting domestic flight to Madurai, Trichy or other smaller airports.
People are also forced to travel by multiple carriers because airlines do not have interline agreements for many routes. Air Passengers Association of India national president D Sudhakara Reddy said, “This is a huge inconvenience for travellers who fly domestic routes and then change over to international flights from gateway airports. The association will take this up with the Competition Commission of India as the increase clearly shows there is cartelisation among the airlines.”
He also said that very few airlines offer through checkin to an international destination from a small airport. “If airlines have interline agreement, passengers get this benefit. However, many of the low-cost carriers and full service carriers do not have the arrangement.”
Airlines use the hub and spoke model to bring people to gateway airports, but this may work only for select routes where the same airline will be offering the domestic and international connections. Basheer Ahmed of Metro Travels said, “After the new baggage policy, many passengers are hesitant to travel abroad via an Indian gateway city like Chennai, Mumbai or Delhi. Instead, they prefer to fly via Colombo, Dubai or Singapore because they will be able to carry the same baggage allowance for free.”
No comments:
Post a Comment