Air India will be providing student travellers the benefit of extra baggage allowance on their international travel, a press release said today. The Maharaja Scholars offer is available for students travelling from India to international destinations on a valid student/student exchange visa.
According to a study published in Forbes India in January 2013, over 4.64 lakh students’ travel abroad to study every year. The US, UK, and Australia alone see about 1 lakh Indian students landing every year for the purpose of pursuing higher studiesCountries like Sweden, Denmark, Italy, and Ireland are increasingly becoming a preferred choice by Indian students due to cheaper education and part time jobs being easily available. Maharaja Scholars is specifically designed to cater to such students, who are travelling to the USA, UK, Europe, Russia, Japan and Australia.
The offer allows an extra piece of luggage weighing up to 23 kg, in addition to the current checked baggage allowance of one piece of luggage for the UK and Europe, or two pieces of luggage for the US and Canada. For USA, Osaka, Tokyo, London, Birmingham, Moscow (DME), the UK and interior parts of Europe (via London, Frankfurt, Paris, Rome), Frankfurt, Paris, Rome (FCO) and Italy (MXP).
In addition to the regular baggage allowance, 20 kgs free baggage is permitted to Bangkok, Hong Kong, Shanghai and Seoul. In the case of Sydney and Melbourne, 20 kgs free baggage is permitted subject to a maximum total FBA of 40 kgs. There is also a penalty waiver in which the cancellation charges are waived for students in case of cancellation of visa (on submission of proof.)
The travel period the offer is available for is till 31 March 2016.