Fee for kids sent alone on Air India Express
Air India Express says it is passing on fee charged by ground-handling agency in Dubai
Unaccompanied minors travelling to India on Air India Express, one of the country’s low-cost carriers, will now have to pay a fee, a source from the airline told Gulf News.
Air India’s budget carrier Air India Express (AIE) will now charge a fee of Dh165 for a one-way ticket for unaccompanied minors and Dh330 if the child is unaccompanied on the return trip as well.
The fee has been introduced “consequent to the levy of Unaccompanied Minor (UM) passenger charges by the ground-handling agency of Dubai Airport,” P. G. Prageesh, chief of corporate communications of AIE in India, told Gulf News. “This is being charged by the ground-handling agency in Dubai and we are passing it on to the passengers.”
In a statement to Gulf News, ground handling agency dnata said it provides a full range of ground and passenger handling services, including the handling of unaccompanied minor passengers.
“The pricing of dnata’s services is subject to the commercial agreement between the company and the airline. It is up to the individual airline to determine how fares are structured and payment collected from the passengers.”
One of India’s low-cost carriers has introduced a fee for unaccompanied minors flying from Dubai, resulting in a burden on Indian parents in the UAE who opted to use the airline to send their children alone on vacation home.
Some Indian parents said Air India Express (AIE) charging this fee will be an additional burden to those who opt for the budget airline to save money during school holidays when airfare to India usually skyrockets
AIE will now charge Dh165 on a one-way ticket for unaccompanied minors. The fee will be Dh330 if the child is not escorted on the return trip.
A circular issued to travel agents on December 4, a copy of which is available with Gulf News, states that the fee has been introduced “consequent to the levy of Unaccompanied Minor [UM] passenger charges by the ground-handling agency of Dubai Airport.”
Office booking only
P.G. Prageesh, chief of corporate communications of AIE in India, confirmed to Gulf News that the airline has started collecting the new fee. “This is being charged by the groundhandling agency in Dubai and we are passing it on to the passengers,” he said.
As per the circular, tickets for unaccompanied minors have to be issued from the city/airport office of AIE and not through travel agent, or the airline’s website.
“If the booking is made through any other channel, the passenger will have to cancel such a booking and rebook at the city/airport office to ensure that the UM charge is collected and documentation executed for the UM at the time of booking,” it added.
Document validation
Prageesh said the airline has made it mandatory for booking of unaccompanied children’s tickets to be done from its offices in order to help validate the documents required for their travel. The Dh165 fee or equivalent is added automatically when the booking is done at the city/airport office of AIE.
The charge is refundable when the ticket is cancelled. It will be carried forward during modifications to the ticket.