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From The Times

July 17, 2008

Now suitcases face a 'green tax'

A leading tour operator is considering charging holidaymakers to take large suitcases on holiday

Tom Chesshyre

Britain's biggest travel company is considering extra charges for checked-in baggage on its charter flights for “green reasons”.

TUI Travel UK, which owns Thomson and First Choice Holidays, covering eight million of the 19 million package holidays sold in the UK each year, says that new measures to penalise people who take large bags on planes could soon be introduced to reduce the overall weight on aircraft and lower the carbon footprint.

The company estimates that a third of luggage taken abroad by its customers is “unnecessary”. And it says that the cost of holidays for people who pack modestly could be lowered, using cash raised from the extra money collected. At the moment, TUI planes have limits of 15-25kg per passenger for luggage that goes in the hold, depending on the route.

But this could be reduced, with a possibility of flat-rate charges for checked-in luggage on some short-haul routes - following in the footsteps of Ryanair, which has £8 fees for first bags, and a 15kg-a-bag limit.

A TUI spokesman said: “We've talked about having lower luggage allowances, but we want to do it for the right reasons - environmental reasons, not as an extra revenue stream.

“We've got to get people to think about what they pack. In our experience a third of what's in most suitcases could be left at home. If we reduce the allowance, it's a carrot rather than a stick approach: ‘You bring less luggage and we'll charge you less.'”

He added that one of the heaviest routes is to the Maldives, “where you don't need much more than a bikini”.

However, he admitted that TUI uses space in its holds to move cargo such as tuna - raising the question of how much difference that extra bikini actually makes.

James Fremantle, of the Air Transport Users, said: “I'd take the environmental arguments with a pinch of salt as the effect of not taking a bit of extra luggage is so minimal on the weight on planes. I hope they think again. It's not like taking a Ryanair flight for a weekend away. People need more luggage for a week away.”

Having just returned from 20 days in Brittany, walking from campsite to campsite with a rucksack weighing 30lbs, including tent and sleeping bag, I often wonder what people put intheir enormous suitcases.

Tread lightly on the earth - and that includes your case!

Val, Congleton, Cheshire

Reducing the wt from the luggage could add up to increased capacity for extra cargo.

Could this really be sold to the general public as an environmental tax??

Richard, Swindon,

what's on earth to take 20kg for the holiday, Miss World or WW3

dd, Pinner, UK

I recently booked a flight with Thomsonfly to Malaga next May and I have been charged £13 extra to take hold luggage (20kg). Last May I was booked to Tenerife with XL Air and 3 weeks before I travelled I was informed that the luggage allowance was reduced to 15Kg. from 20Kg.

Rod, Preston,

How stupid do they think we are? Just call it what it is - a new stream of revenue, not a green tax. It's like listening to a child's lies.

Our old cases weighed 6.75 kg empty; we bought new, lightweight ones. 20 kg each for a 2-week holiday we can manage; 15 we can't. We'll vote with our feet

David, Bristol, UK