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Air India Express cuts ‘extra’ baggage fee

After objection from passengers following the decision to slash free baggage allowance to 20kg from 30kg, low-cost Indian airline Air India Express has decided to cut charges for extra baggage to Dh30 for 10kg.

The airline had announced earlier this month that an amount of Dh50 per kilo would be levied on every additional kilo that the passenger carries. The rule was made applicable to passengers flying to India from Gulf countries.

Based on the feedback from passengers travelling to India, it has decided to levy a nominal fee of Dh30 for 10 extra kilos in order to restore the original free baggage allowance entitlement of 30kg as a ‘goodwill gesture’.

According to an official spokesperson from the airline there would be no other changes in rates if passengers were carrying more than 30kg. “The passenger will have to pay according to the destination he is travelling to. Usually, the longer the destination, the higher the excess fare.”

“Due to several factors, there is a load penalty restricting the carriage of full passengers, though physical seats are available. On account of operational constraints and keeping in view the safety of the aircraft and its passenger, commercial payload is getting affected, resulting in carrying fewer passengers and offloading of their baggage,” said the airline in a statement.

The statement detailed that a policy decision was taken to reduce the Free Baggage Allowance of each passenger to carry full capacity of passengers along with their entire checked-in baggage without resorting to offloading the same. -news@khaleejtimes.com