Journalism of Courage
The civil aviation ministry may decide on services airlines will be allowed to charge under the new unbundling norms and it has asked the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) to study the model followed by airlines globally.
We have asked the DGCA to study the model of unbundling followed by various airlines across the globe. This will give us a sense on the type of services charged by the airlines and the method followed in deciding those charges, said a senior ministry official,who was part of the civil aviation ministers delegation to London on the relaunch of Air Indias Boeing 787 Dreamliner on the Delhi-London route.
The official added that the government would then notify the services airlines should charge. The government can notify norms on unbundling of services.
The government had announced on April 29 that passengers could be made to pay separately for preferential seating,meals and drinks except water,usage of airlines lounges,carrying check-in baggage,sports equipment carriage,musical instrument carriage and luggage specially declared valuable.
This announcement was aimed at bringing down base fares for passengers,who are not looking for anything extra during their flights. With the government announcement,various airlines announced charges for services like selection of seats and reduced the weight limit for free baggage.
IndiGo and Air India Express announced charges for selection of any seat in the aircraft,including the middle seats. The ministry then intervened and asked airlines not to charge for all seats.
The ministry is also looking at limiting the number of seats to be charged in single-aisle aircraft Airbus 320s and Boeing 737s. The ministry is of the view that the airlines cannot charge for seats only because people opt for it.
