Pay more for flight meals, check-in bags

Airfare may get costlier for those seeking preferential seats and other add-ons over the basic minimum services provided by an airline. The government on Monday decided to “unbundle” certain services and also airlines to charge fees for each of them separately.

The services for which airline can charge passengers separately include meals, snacks, drinks other than water, check-in baggage, use of airline lounges, carriage of sports equipment and musical instruments and valuable baggage, an official statement said.
No-frill carriers charge for meals and drinks and regular full service airlines give meal free with travel.

The statement said the decision by Civil Aviation Minister Ajit Singh will facilitate airlines to offer low base fare for price sensitive travellers and at the same time offer choice to service seekers at a price.

“The decision will allow the passengers to benefit from lower base fares and to customise the product to better suit their requirements and budget while allowing airlines to develop more sustainable operations in an environment of wafer-thin margins," the statement by the Civil Aviation Ministry, said.

The move is also expected to aid India ’s loss making airlines to recover rising operational cost to some extent.

According to experts, India is poised to emerge as the world's fastest growing aviation market in the next decade and as the economy has grown in the past six years, the air travel has almost doubled. But, rising aviation fuel charges have dented the airlines profit in the past few years and come as a hindrance for some in even recovering the operating costs.

According to the statement, airlines who wish to levy charges on extra services will have to file details with aviation regulator Directorate General of Civil Aviation, which reserves the right to intervene and stop charging if regulatory priciples are violated by airlines.
The customers should be given the opportunity to pick and choose which amenities they want to receive and pay for, the statement said.

It said globally scheduled airlines are permitted to unbundle services and levy charges for each of them.