No-friils carrier Spicejet defends excess baggage fee

No-frills carrier Spicejet, that has hiked excess baggage rates, on Wednesday said the charges would help low-cost carriers like it remain competitive in the market.

The airline, however, emphasised that it has kept reasonable amount of luggage free for passengers. The Gurgaon-based airline also said that it would expand its services on new as well as existing domestic and international routes when the company would start getting delivery of new planes from Boeing and Bombardier. “Until and unless we do that, we would not be able to provide lucrative fares,” SpiceJet Chief Marketing Officer Debojo Maharshi told PTI when asked about excess baggage charges.

“It’s important, we have to balance and run the airline in optimally viable fare, and to achieve that these are some commercial numbers which we would have to keep,” Maharshi said. Last week, the Delhi High Court had set aside the Rs 100 per kg fee fixed by the Director General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) for excess checked-in baggage of 15-20 kg on private airlines against their earlier rates ranging from Rs 220 to Rs 350. “While we take care that the passengers revenue should be the minimum and should make more Indian fly and we give a …read more