August 21, 2017 TnH Global

IndiGo and SpiceJet hike excess baggage fees for domestic flyers

Three days after the Delhi High Court set aside capping of fee for excess checked-in baggage on private airlines, two major airlines IndiGo and Spice Jet decided to hike their excess baggage charges for domestic flyers checking-in more than 15 kg. Other airlines are also likely to increase their baggage charges.

India’s largest domestic airline IndiGo announced that pre-booking five kg extra to check 20 kg in all will cost Rs 1,425, up from Rs 500 earlier. Passengers will also feel the pinch if they decide to pre-book10 kg; 15 kg and 30 kg (over and above the allowed 15kg) as they will now have to pay Rs 2,850; Rs 4,275 and Rs 8,550, respectively. These three slabs were previously priced at much lower rates. Not booking excess baggage while booking tickets will be a more expensive affair. For every extra kilogram of excess baggage, passengers will have to pay Rs 300.

The steep increase in baggage fees by IndiGo–which controls 40 per cent of domestic market share–is similar to the increase in baggage charges implemented by SpiceJet from Friday.The Delhi High Court on Wednesday had set aside the Rs 100 per kg fee cap fixed by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA).

The aviation regulator allows customers to fly with up to 15 kg of baggage without any charge but capped any baggage above 15 kg till 20 kg at Rs 100 per extra kilogram. Currently, only the state owned Air India lets economy class domestic flyers check-in up to 25 kg without any charge.
All private domestic carriers allow only 15 kg check-in baggage without any extra fee.