Centre has proposed to remove cancellation fee on flight tickets cancelled within 24 hours of booking. Minister of State for Civil Avaition Jayant Sinha today unveiled 1st ever ‘Passenger Charter of Rights’ draft, defining and augmenting the rights, entitlements and compensation during air travel to provide hassle-free air travel experience.

Briefing reporters in New Delhi today, Mr Sinha said, according to the charter, if a domestic airline cancels a flight or delays it for more than four hours, the passenger will be eligible for a full refund. He said, the draft charter has been placed in the public domain for comments.

The Minister said, air passenger traffic in India has grown at 19 per cent per annum over the last four years and is expected to grow to about one billion over the next 15 to 20 years. He said, to ensure seamless, safe and delightful passenger air travel experience, Centre is launching a series of initiatives such as Passenger Charter, DigiYatra, AirSewa app and enabling WiFi connectivity in flights.

The charter also proposed for minimum compensation for lost baggage to be three thousand rupees per kilo and for delayed and damaged baggage, minimum one thousand rupees per kilo. It also proposed that under no circumstances the airline or its agents, including online booking agents can charge cancellation charges more than the ticket amount. The taxes and levies have to be refunded. All airports have to provide atleast 30 minutes of free wi-fi service.