New Delhi: The charge for pre-selection of seats has now extended to international flights of full service Indian carriers as well. Jet Airways has started charging for advance reservation of seats in economy class on all international routes operated by Boeing 737 aircraft from early May. The airline, which operates the Boeing 737 to neighboring regions like Gulf and Nepal, will charge Rs 1,500 for front row seats; Rs 500 for row 10 seats and Rs 250 for window and aisle seats on rows 11 to 15. The pre-booking charge will not apply to middle seats of the single aisle B-737.
Low cost carrier IndiGo, which operates a single aircraft type (Airbus A-320), had earlier decided to charge for seats on both its international and domestic flights. Air India is working on its software to start levying this fee, making Jet the first full service Indian carrier to charge for pre-selection of seats from economy flyers on global flights. AI and Jet have reduced the free check-in baggage weight limit from 20 kg to 15 kg for their domestic economy flyers.
13/05/13 Saurabh Sinha/Times of India
