The Finnish airline, Finnair, became the first network airline to charge its passengers extra for hand luggage on June 1.
What Finnair has done is not a novelty, as there are already several low-cost airlines that charge extra for hand luggage. This is the case of Ryanair, Easyjet or Vueling. The Organization of Consumers and Users (OCU) has denounced these airlines for charging for hand luggage. However, this has not prevented this practice from continuing.
In the case of Ryanair, when we talk about hand luggage we refer to a small wheeled suitcase (55 x 40 x 20). If a passenger wants to board a plane of the Irish airline with his small wheeled suitcase, he will have to buy the ‘priority’ fare. Since the only thing the airline allows on its planes for free is a small suitcase (35 x 20 x 20 x 20).
Vueling has announced that it has preventively cancelled 64 unprotected flights.
Returning to Finnair, the Finnish airline, we were talking about the new fare structure for European flights coming into effect on June 1. In this case, the Superlight fare replaces the Economy Light fare and includes a small bag that can be carried under the seat. The bag measures 40x30x15cm.
If you would like to carry a small suitcase or a larger bag (55x40x23 cm) you will have to pay a supplement. In addition, within this new policy, hand luggage that has to be taken down to the hold of the plane will also be charged for excess hand luggage.
On the other hand, the Business Light ticket (business class) includes one small suitcase (55 x 40 x 40 x 23 cm) and one carry-on bag (40 x 30 x 15 x 15 cm), with a maximum combined weight of 8 kg. If you have special baggage such as golf bags or ski bags with you, a travel extra must be purchased.
Finnair’s Head of Product Offerings, commented that all these changes were made to “facilitate boarding, on-time departures and the comfort of all passengers on board our flights”.
Source: eldebate.com
