KENYA AIRWAYS CUT IN BAGGAGE ALLOWANCE THOUGHT TO BENEFIT RWANDAIR ON REGIONAL ROUTES
(Posted 24th March 2017)
Kenya Airways’ decision to reduce the baggage allowance on regional flights from two pieces of checked luggage to only one has swiftly brought about complaints by regular readers of this publication but also from travel agents.
Until now were passengers flying in economy class able to check two pieces of baggage weighing up to 23 kgs each while business class passengers allowances were up to 32 kgs per piece of checked baggage.
The carriers announcement now has cut this allowance to just one bag with a second one attracting a charge of reportedly 20 US Dollars.
All comments received so far, and there were quite a few, suggested that RwandAir, which maintains their baggage allowance of two pieces of checked luggage, will be the main beneficiary as passengers will try to resist Kenya Airways’ move and rather shift to a carrier which is more friendly to their pockets.
RwandAir, out of Kigali, serves all key airports in the region and also flies double daily from Entebbe to Nairobi and from Entebbe to Juba under fifth freedom rights granted by the Ugandan aviation authorities.The news sadly now overshadow KQ’s campaign of offering up to 30 percent rebates for travel to selected destinations across their extensive network, valid until the end of the year if booked well in advance and two leading travel agents in Kampala questioned the wisdom of the move to reduce baggage allowance with one saying ‘… this is unfit for a full service airline unless they want to join the likes of Jambo or 540, and my passengers do not travel on those‘.
Ethiopian Airlines too continue to grant a two piece baggage allowance on their regional flights adding further pressure on Kenya Airways to reconsider their move and re-instate the full baggage allowance previously in place.
