June 5, 2014 NEW DELHI: AirAsia India’s plan to charge a fee for all check-in baggage has been red flagged by the Directorate-General of Civil Aviation (DGCA).
The DGCA, on Tuesday, asked the airline to withdraw a number of proposed charges, including the fee on check-in baggage, as these were introduced without informing the aviation regulator, The Indian Express reported.
“We have asked the airline to withdraw charges for baggage and other services which were introduced without informing us,” the report quoted an unnamed senior DGCA official as saying.
The official added that the airline representatives has also been summoned for a meeting on the issue on Wednesday.
While airlines in India have been allowed to unbundle services (charge for services), they have to inform the regulator before they introduce any such charge.
In this case, AirAsia India did not inform the aviation regulator, said the daily.
AirAsia, which is launching its flight between Bangalore and Goa on June 12, has done away with the concept of free check-in baggage of up to a certain minimum weight threshold and has, instead, introduced charges for all check-in baggage.
The charge for any check-in baggage weighing up to 15 kg is Rs199 (RM10.84) (if paid during the time of ticket booking) and Rs300 (RM16.34) for up to 15 kg (if paid at the airport counter).
All other low-cost carriers operating in the country offer free check-in baggage of up to 15 kg and full-service carriers offer up to 20 kg free check-in baggage. — Bernama
For the full press report read HERE.
The above two charts are for the charges like Convenience Fees, Manual Check-in Fees and etc imposed by AirAsia in 2011. By now there may be more hidden charges due to AirAsia’s innovations in this area of its business model.
Recently AirAsia has unilaterally imposed RM3 KLIA2 Airport Fees, HERE.
Ministry of Transport should take stern actions against AirAsia so that it will stop all the unfair charges like Convenience Fees, Manual Check-In Fees and etc. Recently it has imposed a new fees of RM3 called KLIA2 Airport Fees. By the way KLIA2 was built by the government and why should public be made to pay RM3 fees to AirAsia for the use of KLIA2.
If the Director General of Civil Aviation (DCGA) in India can stop the Check-In Baggage Fees, yours truly is sure that our authorities can also act in the same manner as the DGCA of India.
