Low cost airline flyBe has announced that it will start charging passengers for hold baggage from February 2006.

Passengers will be charged £4 per item checked in at the airport, although this is reduced to £2 if booked online when the flight is purchased. The charge applies one way, so for a return flight the cost is £8 per item (£4 if prebooked). flyBe are minimising the impact of the new charge by reducing all fares by £1.

"Fair Deal on Baggage"

Describing the new policy as its "Fair Deal on Baggage", flyBe Chairman Jim French explained that "passengers will pay for the service they use rather than the cost being unfairly spread across all people on the aircraft". Additionally the airline is hoping to see improved airport turnaround times due to better planning of baggage requirements.

Although the new charge applies per item, it will cover up to 25kg, currently higher than all of the low cost airlines operating in the UK.

Low Cost Baggage Allowances

For customers without hold baggage, then with flyBe they will benefit from the £1 each way fare reduction.

Customers taking hold baggage should consider their needs carefully, especially if they are likely to be paying excess baggage fees.

A customer taking a 20kg suitcase on a return flight with bmiBaby or easyJet will pay no excess. If the same flight were operated by Ryanair then an excess baggage fee of £40 would be payable (£20 each way). This is an important factor to consider when comparing prices between airlines.

Charging For Services Used

The move is consistent with low cost carriers' intentions of customers actually paying for the services they use. Clearly baggage handling has to be paid for and this move by flyBe is likely to be seen as simply transferring the cost to the customers who use it.

External Sites

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easyJet
flyBe
Ryanair