IndiGo to charge a premium for pre-booked seats

Pre-booking a seat in the first two rows or near emergency exits in the 12th and 13th rows in an IndiGo flight will cost passengers more with the airline deciding to charge a premium for these seats.

The low-cost airline will charge the passenger a premium of Rs 500 for sitting in rows one, two, 12 and 13 on a domestic flight and Rs 800 for an international flight under its Indigo Seat Plus plan.

Though the airline has not indicated from when it would start charging the new rates, but in a circular to travel agents it said for all other window and aisle seats, which are pre-booked, a passenger would be charged Rs 200 for a domestic and Rs 300 for an international flight.

Pre-booking all other middle seats would cost Rs 100 on a domestic and Rs 200 on international flights.

Last week, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) had allowed airlines to charge fees for 'unbundled services' like check-in baggage, preferential seats, meals, snacks or drink (barring drinking water) and sports and musical instruments on their domestic flights.

IndiGo has followed the footstep of Air India, which last Monday had announced lowering of the free baggage allowance from 20 to 15 kg on the domestic sector.

The national carrier had decided to charge a flat rate of about Rs 200-250 per kg on excess weight. The excess baggage charges currently vary between Rs 150-400 per kg depending upon the sector.

The airline is also contemplating levying charges for preferred seats.

Full-service airline Jet Airways today said it was reducing free baggage allowance to 15 kg on all domestic routes (read story).