Air India plans to start charging for food on flights

Air India Ltd plans to start charging for food served on short flights of up to 60-90 minutes duration, senior airline officials said, as per The Hindu Business Line report. According to sources a tender has been floated and based on its evaluation, a decision will be taken on whether or not to introduce the new system on short duration flights. Water, however, will continue to be available free of charge.

The implementation of the decision could be in place by the latter half of this year. The decision to consider implementing payment for food on board comes soon after Alliance Air, a 100 per cent subsidiary of Air India, introduced the concept in March this year, charging Rs 40 to Rs 100 for meals purchased on board. The rate which Air India plans to charge for food on board was yet to be firmed up, sources indicated.

Air India is also exploring other avenues for generating ancillary revenues, including leasing out space in some of its booking offices for banks to install ATM machines. The airline plans to start with leasing out office space in Delhi and Mumbai and then extending it to cities in South India, officials said.