Price increases spare no one, whether on a daily basis or when you want to go on vacation. After the increase in transport prices, it is now the turn of certain airlines to increase their prices. It is more precisely Transavia, the low-cost subsidiary of the Air-France KLM group, which shared bad news with its users: from April 3, 2024, passengers will have to pay to be able to take cabin baggage on board, otherwise they will be asked to bring only small hand luggage (40x30x20cm). A hard blow for those who until now took advantage of the advantages of low-cost channels to travel without too many additional costs. Near theAFP Thursday February 29, 2024, the airline thus affirmed that each person wishing to take advantage of cabin baggage will be charged a minimum of 15 euros (an amount which could vary depending on the destinations). If this is not the case, and if it exceeds the regulatory size and weight at the time of boarding (55x35x25cm and 10 kg), the baggage will be automatically transferred to the hold with the costs that this entails. Transavia therefore ends with an exception: the low-cost airline was in fact the only one which did not charge for cabin baggage.
An increase despite good profits
According to Benjamin Smith, CEO of Air France-KLM, this measure is not new. She would even be “already in place among all Transavia competitors”. He also states that travelers choosing the “Max” option (more flexible but more expensive) will be able to “travel with hand luggage (40x30x20cm), large cabin baggage (55x35x25cm)” And “benefit from priority boarding.” Could this increase be linked to inflation and the rise in the cost of fuel? If the company does not specify it, it affirmed, “during a press conference dedicated to the annual results” according to BFMTV, have “increases ancillary revenues from options (baggage, choice of seats, upgrades, meals, etc.) by 53% per passenger” between 2019 and 2023. Transavia has also, in recent years, “extended its network (…) from Dubai to Cape Verde via Luxor (Egypt) and Rovaniemi (Finland), but also in France”, with “more than 200 connections in total” And “21.4 million travelers” transported in 2023.