The days of through luggage check-in until your final destination in India seem to be over. As per the new regulation for the arriving passengers of international flights to India, you are required to collect your bags from the international arrival belt at entry airports in India and recheck-in the bags for your onward connecting flight in the domestic terminal. Though your itinerary from the point of international departure to the entry airport in India to the final destination has a common PNR.
Picture Credit: Air India
As of now, only Air India has officially shared the new regulation on its social media pages and through a communique to leading travel agencies, including Indian Eagle. This regulatory requirement seems to be a disruptive change in the smooth arrival process at major Indian airports for inbound travelers having a common PNR for both international flight and connecting domestic flight. Through baggage check-in does no longer apply to itineraries like the one below:
Passengers travel on Emirates flights from USA to India, arrive at Delhi or Mumbai International Airport, and connect on Emirates’ codeshare partner SpiceJet flights to their respective final destinations.
Mandatory recheck-in of bags at entry airports in India will cause a great deal of inconvenience to families traveling with kids and senior citizens traveling alone. The process to recheck-in bags for connecting domestic flights is tiresome, as international travelers commented against the tweet that Air India posted announcing the regulation. The Meet and Greet Services available at major Indian airports are a great help given the upcoming scenario.
“From now on, India-bound international travelers should choose itineraries with a layover of 2 hours or more between their arrival at a port of entry and the connection to their final destinations. It will help avert any sort of inconvenience. We’re awaiting other airlines to confirm the same regulation for international arrivals in India, ” said the chief travel advisor of IndianEagle.com.
The new regulation does not apply to international departures from India. If the airline (s) operating your itinerary, let’s assume, from Hyderabad to Atlanta via Delhi does not require you to recheck-in your bags at New Delhi IGI Airport, you won’t be subject to the latest regulation. Air India’s twitter handle has confirmed this in response to some travelers.
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Travelers are divided over the regulation that all India-bound itineraries are, henceforth, subject to. The compulsory recheck-in of bags at a port of entry in India has irked some travelers as they find it time-consuming, ridiculous, and an unnecessary burden; whereas it is in favor of some travelers who say that other countries including the US have the same rule in place for incoming international fliers.