Airlines In India Hike Excess Baggage Fees!

Make sure you double check the weight of your luggage the next time you fly!

Airlines in India announced on Saturday that they have hiked the fees for excess luggage.

IndiGo, SpiceJet and GoAir will now charge Rs 400 per kg extra for every kilo beyond 15 Kg, which was previously priced at Rs 300 per kg. These airlines have also increased their charges for pre-booked excess baggage by almost 33%.

Here are the details of the price hike for different airlines –

IndiGo/GoAir –  The 2 airlines will now charge Rs 1900 for extra 5kg , Rs 3800 for extra 10kg, Rs 5700 for extra 15Kg and Rs 11,400 for extra 30 kg ‘pre-booked’ luggage.

SpiceJet – The airline has increased the price to Rs 1600 for extra 5kg , Rs 3200 for extra 10kg, Rs 4800 for extra 15kg, Rs 6400 for extra 20 kg and Rs 9600 for extra 30 kg ‘pre-booked’ luggage.

Air India – The airline, which allows passengers to carry up to 25kg of free luggage, had earlier this month increased excess baggage charges from Rs 400 to Rs 500 per kg.

Jet Airways – The airline announced last week that they will be changing their baggage policy from the ‘Weight’ concept to ‘Piece’ concept for check-in luggage on all their domestic flights.

* Read More About The Revised Excess Baggage Rules For Jet Airways.

Aviation experts say that since airlines cannot increase the price on their tickets, they have to increase their ancillary revenue.

Ancillary revenue is the airline’s earning from non-ticketing resources such as excess baggage fees, onboard sale of food and beverages, cancellation fees etc.

Experts also suggest that the hike in excess baggage fee is a way of discouraging passengers from carrying more luggage, as a lighter load would mean less fuel burn for airplanes.

With the increase in jet fuel prices globally and the value of rupee going down, airlines are finding it difficult to maintain their profits. While airfares have largely remained the same, the price of jet fuel has risen by 22% and the rupee has depreciated by 6% since January 2018.