New Delhi: After Air India,leading low cost carrier (LCC) IndiGo is going to take the next step towards unbundling services and charging separately for them.
The LCC is going to charge for pre-selection of seats where it will give passengers the option of blocking front row,emergency exit row or window aisle seats for a fee of 100 to 200.The airline will apply to the directorate general of civil aviation (DGCA) to levy this fee which was stopped by the regulator two years back.
But now the governments go ahead to airlines for unbundling services and monetizing those means airlines can again levy this fee.We are not going to tinker with our 20kg free check-in baggage allowance for now and are going to introduce a fee for preselection of seats.Seats with extra leg room,window and aisle seats can be booked at time of buying the ticket.However,there will be no extra charge for these seats for passengers who get them at the time of check-in, said a senior official.Other airlines are also planning to re-introduce the seat selection charge but fear that they may run into a VVIP roadblock.The bureau of civil aviation securitys had some years back issued a list of 31 categories of people with Sonia Gandhis son-in-law Robert Vadra being the only individual in it who are exempt from security checks at airports.The list includes the top dignitaries of the country,cabinet ministers and chief ministers.All airlines are expected to give them front row seats for security reasons.As a result two years back when we used to offer preselection of seats to passengers for a fee,there were many times that some VIP would turn up and then the passenger who had bought the front row seat would have had to be requested to shift elsewhere.So as long as the security requirement of giving front row seats to VVIPs remains,pre-selection will remain a grey area, said an airline official.Meanwhile,all airlines are now devising innovative packages for unbundling services and levying fees,some players are working on having a 5kg excess check-in weight package for a certain sum that will be cheaper than the Rs 200-300 per kg that airlines charge for more than the allowed weight.For instance,Air Asia does not allow any free check-in baggage and passengers have to buy the weight they wish to carry at the time of buying their tickets.Clearly,now the Indian carriers will try to outdo each other in terms of devising such packages.
The LCC is going to charge for pre-selection of seats where it will give passengers the option of blocking front row,emergency exit row or window aisle seats for a fee of 100 to 200.The airline will apply to the directorate general of civil aviation (DGCA) to levy this fee which was stopped by the regulator two years back.
But now the governments go ahead to airlines for unbundling services and monetizing those means airlines can again levy this fee.We are not going to tinker with our 20kg free check-in baggage allowance for now and are going to introduce a fee for preselection of seats.Seats with extra leg room,window and aisle seats can be booked at time of buying the ticket.However,there will be no extra charge for these seats for passengers who get them at the time of check-in, said a senior official.Other airlines are also planning to re-introduce the seat selection charge but fear that they may run into a VVIP roadblock.The bureau of civil aviation securitys had some years back issued a list of 31 categories of people with Sonia Gandhis son-in-law Robert Vadra being the only individual in it who are exempt from security checks at airports.The list includes the top dignitaries of the country,cabinet ministers and chief ministers.All airlines are expected to give them front row seats for security reasons.As a result two years back when we used to offer preselection of seats to passengers for a fee,there were many times that some VIP would turn up and then the passenger who had bought the front row seat would have had to be requested to shift elsewhere.So as long as the security requirement of giving front row seats to VVIPs remains,pre-selection will remain a grey area, said an airline official.Meanwhile,all airlines are now devising innovative packages for unbundling services and levying fees,some players are working on having a 5kg excess check-in weight package for a certain sum that will be cheaper than the Rs 200-300 per kg that airlines charge for more than the allowed weight.For instance,Air Asia does not allow any free check-in baggage and passengers have to buy the weight they wish to carry at the time of buying their tickets.Clearly,now the Indian carriers will try to outdo each other in terms of devising such packages.
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