Travel light or you may have to cough up a bomb for every extra kg in your baggage

NEW DELHI: Carrying over 15 kg check-in baggage on domestic flights will now cost more. Private airlines have started raising both pre-booking charges for excess baggage as well as the fees that need to be paid at airports by those who have not pre-booked the same. Air India is now the only airline on which domestic economy flyers can take up to 25 kg of check-in baggage free of charge.

Low-cost carriers (LCC) IndiGo, SpiceJet and GoAir, are now charging Rs 400 per kg for each kilo beyond the allowed 15 kg from domestic passengers at airports who have not pre-booked excess baggage.

IndiGo hiked pre-booked excess baggage charges on its domestic flights by one-third or 33% from Friday. IndiGo's charges for pre-booking 5, 10, 15 and 30 kg (beyond the free 15 kg) on its domestic routes will now be Rs 1,900; Rs 3,800; Rs 5,700 and Rs 11,400, respectively.

Last August, IndiGo had set its pre-booking charges for 5, 10, 15 and 30 kg (beyond the free 15 kg) at Rs 1,425; Rs 2,850; Rs 4,275 and Rs 8,550, respectively. And flyers who did not pre-book were required to pay Rs 300 per kg for each kilo beyond the allowed 15 kg. All these charges have now been hiked 33%.

IndiGo and SpiceJet revised their excess bag charge from Friday (June 22), while GoAir hiked from Saturday.

SpiceJet pre-booking charges for 5, 10, 15, 20 and 30 kg for domestic flyers are Rs 1,600; Rs 3,200; Rs 4,800; Rs 6,400 and Rs 9,600, respectively. Its passengers who do not pre-book will need to pay Rs 400 per kg extra for each kilo of check-in baggage beyond 15 kg for domestic flights. GoAir excess baggage charges are exactly similar to IndiGo's.

Till last August, airlines could charge only Rs 500 for the first five kg beyond the 15-kg limit for domestic flyers due to a DGCA order. Beyond 20 kg, they could charge any amount. Airlines challenged that DGCA order in courts and were allowed to set excess baggage charges beyond 15 kg itself.