Tiger Airways, the low-cost operator owned by Singapore Airlines will begin charging customers $15 to check-in at the airport rather than online from July 1st.
Tiger Airways plans to charge travellers up to $15 extra if they check-in at the airport, Tiger passengers with no check-in baggage will pay $15 extra at the airport, or be slugged with a $10 fee if they elect airport check-in when booking tickets. Tiger Airways passengers can avoid the extra fees if they check in online and do not need to check in baggage when arriving at the airport.
Tiger Airways Managing Director, Crawford Rix, says the change in fee structure is in the interest of transparency, so the airline can offer the cheapest airfares to passengers who use the web check-in.
“Everything we do is about offering the seat for the absolute lowest fare and then providing customers with the option to choose whatever optional extras they wish to pay for,” Mr Rix said.
In addition to slugging passengers with airport check-in fees come July 1, Tiger Airways plans on increasing the rates paid for check in baggage, with 15 kilograms of check-in baggage to set you back $20 up from $15, and 25 kilograms of baggage to cost $50 up from $45.
Tiger Airways has followed the lead of European airline Ryanair in the low-cost air travel market, looking to establish the lowest headline rates for tickets then charging additional fees for ‘value added’ extras above the seat on the plane itself.
Ryanair has gone even further than Tiger Airways plans to, with the airline abandoning airport check-ins entirely, forcing passengers to check-in online and drop off baggage at a designated baggage drop off point, but still charging passengers 5 euro to check in. Over time as the Australian air travel market grows accustomed to such practices, Tiger Airways will most likely follow in Ryanair’s footsteps.
