AirAsia India stops charging for baggage

AirAsia India stopped collecting fee for check-in luggage up to 15 kilogramme on Thursday, following the Directorate General of Civil Aviation’s intervention.

The airline opened bookings on Friday night for its inaugural routes -- Bengaluru-Goa and Bengaluru-Chennai.

The Bengaluru-Goa flight will start from June 12 and the other flight from June 19. The budget airline had earlier decided to continue with its international practice of not offering free check-in luggage.

It had announced a fee of Rs 199 for up to 15 kg, and more over that weight. Rival domestic airlines do not charge for up to 15 kg of luggage.

However, DGCA took objection to the airline collecting

fees without informing it.

The regulator had asked the airline to stop collecting charges till it had cleared these. While airlines in India are allowed to unbundle services (charge for services), they need to inform the aviation regulator before introducing these.

On Thursday, AirAsia’s website showed the levy for up to 15 kg of baggage was zero.

“From today (Thursday), AirAsia is offering up to 15 kg luggage without fees.

“However, we do not have information yet on refunds to those who had booked earlier,” said Sharat Dhall, president of Yatra.com.

Other portals said they had no information from the airline regarding withdrawal of baggage fees.

An AirAsia spokesperson refused to comment.

Last week, AirAsia launched promotional fares.