All's fare in airline pricing

First, the reality check. The excitement over Civil Aviation Minister Ajit Singh permitting scheduled airlines to unbundle certain services and charge passengers additional fees for them is overdone. In fact, Singh's announcement does not represent a significant policy liberalisation as many would like it to be projected. That's because most of the services that he listed are already "unbundled" - payment for in-flight meals, check-in baggage, sporting and musical equipment, using the lounge and so on. The only new item is a preferred seat fee. In effect, then, the government merely clarified and slightly expanded an earlier position.

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