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Tiger Airways Australia has announced that it will charge passengers who only have carry-on hand luggage to use check-in counters for bookings made after July 1.
The airline says that those passengers travelling with only carry-on baggage and wanting to use a check-in counter to complete their check-in process will be able to pre-pay a $10 surcharge at the time of booking, while those who have not pre-paid will have to pay a $15 surcharge to use the counter check-in. Passengers will have the option of using web check-in for free, while passengers who have checked baggage will not be charged for using airport check in facilities.
“We want to reward travellers who use web check-in with our lowest fares,” said the airline’s managing director Crawford Rix. “Passengers who carry only hand luggage but want to use our airport check-in facility will now pay a fee to do so. More Tiger Airways customers checking in online means a better airport experience for more people and reduces our costs so that we can continue to drive down airfares in Australia.”
Charging for the use of check-in counters is not without precedent, with Ryanair introducing the practice in 2007 as part of a move towards all passengers using web check -in. In October 2009, the Irish budget carrier switched to only offer online check-in and bag drop counters at airports, which it says allows it to offer lower fares than competing airlines.
