Low-Cost Airline to Charge for Checking in Luggage
Posted on: Saturday, 17 December 2005, 06:00 CST
By ALASTAIR DALTON TRANSPORT CORRESPONDENT
THE airline Flybe yesterday announced what its low-cost rival Ryanair has dared not introduce - charges for passengers checking in luggage.
It will charge travellers GBP 2 per bag per flight if they pay when booking seats, or GBP 4 at check-in.
The move, on flights from 1 February, will be accompanied by all fares being cut by GBP 1 and the hand-luggage weight allowance being doubled from 11lb (5kg) to 22lb (10kg).
The hold-baggage allowance will also increase to 55lb (25kg), which Flybe said was the highest among low-cost airlines.
The airline, which operates six UK and Channel islands routes from Edinburgh and Glasgow, said 55 per cent of its passengers checked in baggage.
Michael O'Leary, the chief executive of Ryanair, floated the idea of charging for hold baggage last year. The airline said yesterday it had no immediate plans to follow Flybe's lead, but its goal remained for passengers to fly with no luggage whatsoever.
A Ryanair spokesman said it will encourage passengers to travel with hand-luggage only by cutting fares by some GBP 2 in an online check-in trial starting early next year. This will enable travellers with no hold baggage to print out their own boarding passes and head straight to departure gates without the need to queue at check-in desks.
The Air Transport Users Council, the official watchdog, said the Flybe move would be good for some passengers but bad for others.
Source: Scotsman, The
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