HIGHLIGHTS
- Domestic flyers not pre-booking excess baggage will now need to pay Rs 400 per kg for each kilo beyond the allowed 15 kg
- Till last August, airlines could charge only Rs 500 for the first five kg beyond the 15-kg limit for domestic flyers due to a DGCA order
NEW DELHI: Carrying over 15 kg check-in baggage on IndiGo domestic flights will now cost about one-third or 33% more. The low cost carrier steeply hiked the charges for pre-booking 5, 10, 15 and 30 kg (beyond the free 15 kg) on its domestic routes to Rs 1,900; Rs 3,800; Rs 5,700 and Rs 11,400, respectively, from Friday (June 22). Domestic flyers not pre-booking excess baggage will now need to pay Rs 400 per kg for each kilo beyond the allowed 15 kg.
Last August, the LCC had set its pre-booking charges for 5, 10, 15 and 30 kg (beyond the free 15 kg) at Rs 1,425; Rs 2,850; Rs 4,275 and Rs 8,550, respectively. And flyers who did not pre-book were required to pay Rs 300 per kg for each kilo beyond the allowed 15 kg. All these charges have now been hiked by 33%.
Till last August, airlines could charge only Rs 500 for the first five kg beyond the 15-kg limit + for domestic flyers due to a DGCA order. Beyond 20 kg, they could charge any amount. Airlines challenged that DGCA order in courts and were allowed to set excess baggage charges beyond 15 kg itself.
With IndiGo hiking excess baggage charges for domestic flyers by 33%, other airlines are likely to follow suit. Among Indian carriers, only Air India has a 25-kg free check-in baggage limit for domestic flyers.
This is the second hike by IndiGo in recent days. The airline had reintroduced fuel surcharge for domestic flights from May 30, due to rising aircraft fuel cost and depreciating Indian rupee. As this surcharge, it had decided to levy Rs 200 on routes less than 1000 km, and Rs 400 on routes longer than 1000 km distance.
Jet fuel prices have risen 40% from January 2017 + till last month, putting severe strain on airline finances along with factors like a weakening rupee. Airlines say they are unable to recover the increase in cost due to the inability to hike fares thanks to stiff competition.
Jet Airways’ CEO Vinay Dube, while declaring a loss of Rs 1,040 crore in the January-March 2018 quarter last month, had said “financial performance during the quarter was weaker due to the continuing increase in the price of Brent fuel without a corresponding increase in air fares, as well as mark-to-market adjustments due to a weaker rupee.”
Results of the two other listed airlines had also shown similar stress due to the worsening oil-rupee combine. IndiGo’s fuel cost during the January-March, 2018, quarter had risen to Rs 2,338 crore from Rs 1,751 crore a year ago. SpiceJet had said that its bottomline was impacted by Rs 81.4 crore in the quarter ended March, 2018, due to the 12.7% hike in crude oil prices.
Now to avoid a Kingfisher-like fate, Indian airlines have started hiking fares. “Jet fuel for domestic flights is among the expensive in India. What option do we have but hike fares or shut down,” said an airline official.
