AI Express defers proposal to charge for seat pre-selection

In a good news for fliers of Air India Express, the low-cost arm of Air India, the airline management has decided to defer the proposal to charge for advance selection of seats.
The airline, however, has not given any dates for how long it has been deferred.
"AI Express has deferred the proposal to charge for pre- selection of seats on its domestic and international flights," an Air India spokesperson said.
Following the footsteps of the no-frill carrier IndiGo, the airline had decided to charge Rs 400 from those passengers who are pre-selecting seats of Rows one and two and Rs 300 for those seeking advance selection in Rows three to rows six.

On international flight, the charges were Rs 750 for rows one and two and Rs 500 for rows three to six.
In addition, in other rows the airline had was charging Rs 300 for advance selection of window or aisle seat, while those pre-booking the middle seat in other rows were charged Rs 200.

They had also informed the travel agents that the charges were applicable with immediate effect and were non-refundable.
IndiGo was first to introduce such charges after the Civil Aviation Ministry allowed them to unbundle their services, including charging for food, water, excess baggage and seat selection.

Later, the airline announced withdrawal of pre-booking charges for any of its middle seats (except for rows one, 12 and 13)
"The feedback of our fliers is of utmost importance to us and as a result, with immediate effect, IndiGo will not charge for pre-booking of any of its middle seats (except for rows 1, 12 & 13)," IndiGo had said in a statement.