Air India Express will increase the baggage allowance from 20kg to 30kg from January 15, Minister of State for Aviation K C Venugopal announced in New Delhi.
According to the minister’s statement, the baggage allowance which was slashed by 10kg from August 2013 is being revised back to 30kg after a large number of Indian expatriate organisations lodged complaints about the arbitrary decision.
The minister made the announcement during the ongoing Pravasi Bharathi Divas (PBD) in New Delhi. While agreeing to increase the baggage allowance, the minister stated that it is not feasible or practical to reduce airfare.
Venugopal underlined the Indian government’s commitment to improve travel experience.
Addressing a session on “Young Achievers” at the Youth Pravasi Bharatiya Divas, the minister said: “Air India is indebted to overseas Indians and always offers you the opportunity to fly you around. Air India had a bad time combating debts but now we are regaining ground. We are happy that improved customer confidence is being reflected in the bookings as well.”
“There were certain issues and concerns about the performance of Air India Express… which is specially launched to cater to the Gulf sector. The process of empowering Air India Express as an independent business entity is progressing. We have rolled out many initiatives to make Air India Express complaint free,” he said, adding that “We have also increased our services to the Gulf, and on time performance is monitored at the apex level to ensure customer satisfaction. To hear from the NRIs personally about their concerns about Air India Express, I started a mail service too,”he said.
However, travel agents are not sure whether the revised higher baggage allowance will be permanent or temporary.
Travel agents have been instructed to give 30kg allowance from January 15 to March 28. It is not yet known whether the baggage allowance will be slashed again when the peak vacation season starts. The minister has just ensured that the baggage allowance will be increased by 10kg for the specific period and the situation after that period will be reviewed. Expatriate associations are viewing it sceptically, as there is always a chance to revert back to 20kg e when the peak travel season starts during the summer school vacation in the Gulf.
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