A move by budget carriers to charge for check-in baggage was rejected on Saturday by the government. Minister of State for Civil Aviation Mahesh Sharma said the airlines concerned had approached the Director-General of Civil Aviation for approval of their proposal but the government has not accepted the request.

“We have got the proposal from low-cost flights to charge for check-in baggage. We have rejected it and there will be no consideration at the Aviation Ministry level. We will not want to put this burden on passengers,” Mr. Sharma said.

The proposal, if accepted, will be a “dampener” in air traffic growth in India, he said.

Cabin OK on hold

Also on Saturday, the International Air Transport Association (IATA) put on hold its controversial Cabin OK initiative — on cabin baggage restrictions — following pressure from passenger groups in North America, travel firms and flyers in India opposing this ‘pro airline’ initiative who said that it would put passengers at a disadvantage.

Airlines suggest discounts for zero baggage travellers

Turning down a proposal from low-cost airlines to charge for check-in luggage, Minister of State for Civil Aviation Mahesh Sharma told PTI on Saturday, “I want the airline to continue with the present system (of allowing upto 15 Kg free check-in baggage) and at the same time provide incentives to those flyers who travel light.”

The DGCA is looking into a proposal from three Indian carriers wherein travellers will have to pay for every kilogram of checked-in luggage. The proposal, at the same time, envisages providing incentives for passengers who travel light.

A senior DGCA official said on Friday that SpiceJet, Indigo and AirAsia have approached the regulator with the idea of ‘zero baggage fare’, whereby passengers having no check-in luggage would be given a discount.

Cabin not ok

Lalatendu Mishra writes from Mumbai:

Meanwhile, the International Air Transport Association (IATA) has put on hold its controversial Cabin OK initiative due to pressure from passenger groups in North America, travel firms and flyers in India.

“The Cabin OK guidelines, if implemented in India, will inconvenience travellers as many of them prefer carrying their luggage in the cabin. The IATA guideline states that the revised Cabin OK rules will reduce the baggage size by 21 per cent which is a huge drawback for passengers who would prefer a quick exit on landing,” said John Nair, Head, Business Travel, Cox & Kings Ltd.

The initiative was aimed at speeding up the boarding process since airlines find it difficult to accommodate all the cabin luggage when flights are full, forcing them to transfer bags to the cargo hold.

‘Voluntary programme’

“Cabin OK is a voluntary programme for airlines and for consumers. This is clearly an issue that is close to the heart of travelers. We need to get it right. We are pausing the rollout and launching a comprehensive reassessment,” Tom Windmuller, Senior Vice President, Airport, Passenger, Cargo and Security, IATA said in a statement recently.

As per the Cabin OK initiative announced by IATA on June 9, 2015, air passengers needed to ‘voluntarily’ buy new cabin bags with an optimal size of 55 x 35 x 20 cm or 21.5” x 13.5” x 7.5” inches to ensure that their bags (one bag per passenger) travel with them inside the aircraft cabin even when the flight is full.

The bags which are smaller in size than the normal bags need to be labeled Cabin OK by the bag manufacturers so that they can be immediately recognized by the cabin crew who would ensure that these bags get priority to remain in the cabin.