Air India Kiosks Check In To Be Operational Throughout India

This is measure which will go a long way in reducing the long queues at airports. While the facility of web check in is already being provided to the domestic passengers by Indian airline companies, it is also a fact that this move has helped partly. There is a need to further ease the process of check-in by taking other measures such as by providing kiosk check in counters at airports. Recently, this service of kiosk check in was provided for on an experimental basis by putting up 2 kiosks at Mumbai airport for this purpose on select Air India routes. After meeting a huge success, it has now been decided to extend this service to the full domestic networks of not only Air India but also Jet Airways.
Besides using web check in, these will also be used for baggage tag printing and automated boarding cards. The common use self service (CUSS) will also be used for generating tags for check-in baggage for those who are using Air India web check in and Jet Airways online check in facility.
It is notable that many airlines of the world already have these systems of self check-in in place at different airports from where their flights operate. With one of the largest aviation markets of the world, India will gain immensely from this measure. It will work to reduce airport congestion, allow passengers to tag their check-in baggage and leave these at drop-off counters, save time and even avoid hassles. 

Understanding Air India Baggage Allowance For International Destinations

Air India is  a full service legacy carrier of India. The carrier operates international flights to more destinations than any other carrier in India. For this reason, this is one of the most sought after airlines for international travel in India. If you are also planning to go to destinations across the world on this carrier, you would need to know the baggage limitations that apply to you.

(In case there is a confusion you can directly put your question at the end of the blog post and we will give the answer within 24 hours)

Air India has these allowances for checked in baggage depending on the destination to/from which you are travelling, the class in which you are flying, the date on which the ticket was issued, validity of the ticket and whether you have bought the single or the return fare. The factors of issue of tickets and the validity period of ticket makes this quite difficult to understand. Lets understand this in simple terms here.

1. India to Far East and South Asia ( except Japan)
   
   

    First class-- 40 kgs

    Executive Class-- 30 kgs

    Economy Class-- 20 kgs

     b.   Bangkok to India/ UK/ Europe/ Middle East/ Kathmandu (valid till 31 March, 2015), and

    Singapore to Birmingham/ London/ Frankfurt/ Paris/ Rome/ Milan/ Moscow, and

    India to Singapore, and

    All Flights to/from India and Gulf and Middle East (except Saudi Arabia)

   

    Executive Class-- 40 kgs

    Economy Class-- 30 kgs

   

Singapore  to USA (Chicago [ORD], New York [JFK], Newark [EWR]), allowance is:

Executive Class-- 2 pcs (32kgs per pc, L+B+H= 158 cms/ pc)

Economy Class-- 2 pcs  (23 kgs per pc, L+B+H=  273 cms both and 158 cms/pc)

          For India-Riyadh, India-Riyadh-India and Riyadh-India Flights, luggage allowance is

          First Class-- 50 kgs

Executive Class-- 40 kgs

Economy Class-- 30 kgs

Bangkok to USA (valid till 31 March 2015) flights, the following is baggage limits allowed freely:

Executive Class-- 2 pcs (32 kgs each)

Economy Class-- 2 pcs (23 kgs each)

For the Shanghai-India-Shanghai flights, and

Seoul- India, free allowance is:

First Class-- 40 kgs

Executive Class-- 30 kgs

Economy Class-- 20 kgs

Singapore to Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Sharjah, Bahrain, Dammam, Jeddah, Riyadh, Muscat, Kuwait, Dhaka & Kathmandu, allowance is:

First Class-- 40 kgs

Executive Class-- 40 kgs

Economy Class-- 30 kgs

Hong Kong- India- Hongkong flights are allowed:

First Class-- 50 kgs

Executive Class-- 40 kgs

Economy Class-- 30 kgs

c. All Flights between India and Male, Kabul, Dhaka, Kathmandu, Yangon and Colombo

   

    Executive Class-- 30 kgs

    Economy Class-- 20 kgs

d. In case of Flights to/from Australia, the following baggage policies apply on Air India flights:

    Between India and Sydney/Melbourne: For ticket issued after 22 October 2014, Executive class travelers are allowed 40 kgs Air India baggage allowance for one-way and return flights between India and Sydney/Melbourne. Economy Class travelers are allowed 30 kgs for one-way flights from Sydney/Melbourne to India and 40 kgs on one-way flights from India to Sydney/Melbourne. However, on the return flights between Australia and India, the Economy class travelers are allowed 40 kgs.

Australia to Middle East, South Asian Subcontinent and European cities: Executive class allowed 40 kgs on one-way and return and 30 kgs on Economy Class.

e. Air India flights to/from European cities- Frankfurt, Rome, Paris, Milan- (except UK) come with the following allowances:

For tickets issued from April 1, 2015, flights between India and Europe and from Europe to SASC/SEA region will provide Executive Class travelers 2 pcs of 23 kg each and Economy Class travelers 1 pcs of 23 kgs. 

From European cities to FEA/SEA/AUS region Executive Class 2 pcs of 23 kgs each and Economy ones are allowed 1 pcs of 30 kgs.

For Frankfurt-India-Frankfurt and Frankfurt-Kathmandu-Frankfurt sectors of travel, First, Executive and Infant ticket travelers are allowed respectively 2 pcs of 23 kgs, 2 pcs of 23 kgs and 1 pcs of 10 kg. But the Economy Class travelers on India route are allowed 1 pcs of 23 kgs whereas or Kathmandu route are allowed 30 kgs. There is also another restriction of sum of dimensions of per pcs being 158 cms.

India-Frankfurt and

India-Paris (except Chennai) are allowed:

First Class    40 Kgs.

Executive Class    30 Kgs.

Economy Class    20 Kgs.

Chennai-Paris route comes with following allowance:

First Class    40 Kgs.

Executive Class    35 Kgs.

Economy Class    30 Kgs.

Paris-India route:

Executive Class    48 Kgs.

Economy Class    30 Kgs.

India-Rome/Milan

Executive Class    30 Kgs.

Economy Class    20 Kgs.

Infant    10 Kgs.

Rome/Milan- India

Executive Class    2 Pc / 23Kgs.Each

Economy Class    1 Pc / 23Kgs.

Infant Ticket    1 Pc / 10 Kgs.

Flights between India and Moscow (one-way)

Executive Class    2 Pc    32 Kgs. Each

Economy Class    2 Pc    23 Kgs. Each

f) Flights of Air India to/from Japan

Tokyo/Osaka to Delhi/Mumbai ( on AI 315 from Osaka) and

Delhi/Mumbai to Tokyo/Osaka (including AI 314)

First Class    2 Pc (32Kgs. Each Pc)

Executive Class    2 Pc (32Kgs. Each Pc)

           Sum of dimensions 158 cms for each

Economy Class    2 Pc (23Kgs. Each Pc)

Sum of dimensions 158 cms for each pcs and 272 cms both pcs

Infants in all classes    1 pc 10kg / 22lb

Sum of dimensions 115 cms

For Osaka-HongKong-Osaka flights, free allowance is:

Executive Class    30 Kgs.

Economy Class    20 Kgs.

Infant (Executive/Economy Class)    10 Kgs.

g) Flights to/from UK

    UK-India flights

First Class    3 Pc / 23Kgs.Each

Executive Class    3 Pc / 23Kgs.Each

Economy Class    2 Pc / 23Kgs.Each

    The sum of dimensions for each pcs shall not exceed 158 cms

   

    India-UK flights (tickets issued on/after 18 Jul 2014)

First Class    3 Pc / 23Kgs.Each

Executive Class    3 Pc / 23Kgs.Each

Economy Class    2 Pc / 23Kgs.Each

The sum of the dimensions must not exceed 158 centimeters for each piece

    UK to beyond India (via India)

   

    First Class    50 Kgs.

Executive Class    50 Kgs.

Economy Class    30 Kgs.

    Each pcs shall not exceed 23 kgs in weight. There is no restriction on number of pcs to be taken.

Air India Shutting Down Offices Worldwide

Surviving on massive government bailout package for the moment, Air India, the national carrier of India, is in the process of putting its house in order for the ultimate objective of attaining profitability in the near future. As a part of series of measure across the horizontal and vertical segments of its business operations and cutting across different departments, Air India is shutting down offices which it considers a drag on its resources. While it is happening in India, it is also being done in foreign cities as well.

Air India has offices in many countries of the world, even in those countries where there are no flight operations. Efforts are afoot to close all those offices where revenue generation is not as per expectations and where there are no flights. To meet this end, the carrier has shut offices in Zurich, Chittagong and Vienna. In the immediate future, it will also close offices in Cairo and Tehran. However, the offices in Washington, Los Angeles and Amsterdam will continue to remain open even though these cities do not have flights currently. Air India will also be downsizing operations in its Toronto office. 

Air India’s Move to Close City Booking Offices Faces Criticism

Concluding that its city booking offices across the country have become redundant due to the advent of online booking, refunds claim and ticketing cancellation, Air India has decided to close its shops. Air India has contended that the offline booking centres are losing importance and their operations have become redundant under the current austerity drive. The most recent one has been Kozhikode.

The move has drawn flak from  number of quarters since a number of people in many of these cities are not internet savvy and do not know to use internet for making flight booking or other transactions. They still make use of these offices for their air travel needs. In the absence of these offices, these people would face immense hardships.

Some states  like Kerala has been generating good revenues for Air India, therefore, the decision to close down Kozhikode offices has been seen as rather mysterious.