DAMMAM, 15 April 2004 — Several airlines, especially those operating to Asian destinations, are literally taking their economy class passengers for a ride. How many passengers flying economy on such airlines as Air-India, Gulf Air and Emirates know that within economy class there are also sub-classes? And that they might have paid a couple of hundred riyals extra for their journeys?
Yes. Several airlines, mainly those on Asian sectors, have segregated their economy class into four other groups in order to increase revenues and exploit passengers.
The economy class is usually divided by these airlines into L, H, K and G classes and the difference in fares varies from SR100 to SR200 and in sometimes even more.
Travel agents say that this separation of economy class is in contravention of IATA rules which stipulate only three classes — economy, business and first class. These travel agents, however, admit that IATA has virtually lost its relevance as it is more or less a free-for-all in the air industry and especially in the Gulf.
The agents say that most airlines do not follow IATA’s recommended fare structure nor do they implement baggage rules. At the same time, they say that the separation of economy class passengers into groups and charging different fares for each one is wrong.
According to one Air-India official, “basically the extra charges is to provide a seat during rush periods.”
Travel agents point out that it is not fair to charge extra money without providing extra service. Airlines say that one of the reasons for this state of affair in the Kingdom is that in Bahrain, airlines are offering cheaper fares as operational costs are less than those at King Fahd International Airport.
