MINSK, 18 November (BelTA) – On 18 November Belavia launched a new pricing strategy that implies branded fares with the most basic including only hand baggage, BelTA learned from the press service of the national air carrier.
“The number of seats and the cost of tickets across different branded fares will depend on the airplane capacity, passenger load and other factors. The difference between a baggage-free fare and the cheapest return flight with checked baggage allowance will be up to €65 depending on a route,” the press service informed.
For example, the cheapest baggage-free return flight from Minsk to Kaliningrad will cost from €85, while the same route with a checked baggage allowance will cost from €115. The baggage-free round-trip ticket from Minsk to Prague will cost from €166 (the cheapest ticket allowing checked baggage on this route used to cost €204, now it is available for €191). The baggage-free return ticket from Minsk to Kiev will cost from €109, (the cheapest fare with checked baggage allowance used to be €134, now €139).
The company has split its offerings into five parts: Promo, Light, Smart, Flex, Business.
The most basic of them - Promo and Light – will have a free hand baggage allowance of 10kg. If a passenger wants to take checked baggage on board, a fee will apply, however, the cost of one piece of checked baggage will be reduced from €50 to €25 for these branded fares.
The Smart group provides for a free hand baggage allowance of 10kg and a free checked baggage allowance of 23kg. This option also allows free seat selection.
The Flex group offers a free hand baggage allowance of 10kg and a free checked baggage allowance of 32kg. Passengers opting for this fare will be offered free seat selection, as well as free changes to the ticket and a free refund before and after departure.
The Business fare offers a free hand baggage allowance (two baggage pieces of 10kg each) and a free checked baggage allowance (two baggage pieces of 32kg each), free seat selection, free changes to the ticket and a free refund before and after departure. In addition to that, passengers can take advantage of priority boarding, lounge access and priority check-in.
No extra fees will be charged for checking sports equipment. However, this rule applies only to the Smart, Flex and Business groups.
The new policy will be effective on tickets purchased on 18 November and later. The tickets bought before 18 November are subject to the rules that were in effect before. At the same time, the new rules regulating the size of carry-on baggage will apply to all the tickets starting from 18 November.
The company noted that carry-on bags on baggage-free fares cannot be registered as checked baggage. The company recommends passengers to study hand baggage rules beforehand and to keep in mind that the items forbidden in hand baggage include, as before, items with sharp points or edges, explosives, gases and sprays, any liquids in containers larger than 100 ml (not more than 1 liter in total).
