Flyers alert! At Delhi airport, pay X-ray baggage charges from February 1

Delhi airport operator DIAL will start levying X-ray baggage charges ranging from Rs 110 to Rs 880 per aircraft flying on domestic routes from next month. For international flights, the charge would be USD 209.55 for wide-body planes and USD 149.33 for narrow-body aircraft, according to an AERA order.

With the decision, air passengers flying out from the Delhi airport would have to shell out up to Rs 50 as airlines are expected to pass on the X-ray baggage charges. In a four-page order dated January 10, the Airports Economic Regulatory Authority of India (AERA) said that DIAL can levy X-ray baggage charges from February 1.

An airline official said X-ray baggage charges would be passed on to passengers. "A passenger -- who takes a domestic flight -- is unlikely to pay more than Rs 5 as 'X-ray baggage charge'. On an international flight, the per passenger charge would be not more than Rs 50," a source said.

According to the order, the charge would be USD 209.55 (around Rs 14,908) on wide-body aircraft.

Assuming that a wide-body plane has more than 300 seats, the additional charge per passenger would be not more than Rs 50.

For a narrow-body plane flying on international routes, the charge would be USD 149.33 (around Rs 10,624). On domestic routes, the charge would be Rs 110 for a plane with up to 25 seats and Rs 220 for an aircraft having 26-50 seats.

The charge would be Rs 495 for planes with 51-100 seats, Rs 770 for 101-200 seater aircraft and the amount would be Rs 880 for those having more than 200 seats.

Taking into account the charges and number of seats, each passenger would have to shell out a marginal amount that is less than Rs 5.

"DIAL will bill airlines the X-ray baggage charges per domestic and international flight as per the AERA order from February 1, 2019. This will not be billed to passengers through airlines rather it would be cost to airlines only," a DIAL spokesperson said.

The Delhi International Airport Ltd (DIAL) is a consortium that is majority-owned by the GMR group.