Wizz Air drops cabin-baggage fees

Wizz Air Holdings plans to stop charging customers for carry-on luggage, bringing it into line with rivals Ryanair Holdings and EasyJet as low fuel prices boost earnings. While Wizz had allowed customers to bring aboard small items and laptop bags for free, it imposed a fee of between 10 and 35 euros ($11.50-$50) for standard-sized cabin luggage, depending on the time booked. Those levies will be dropped from Oct. 29, allowing free carriage of bags up to 50% bigger, it said Wednesday. “We are listening to our customers,” CEO Jozsef Varadi said. “Charging for cabin bags was one of the critiques we have been getting. It will post some operational challenges obviously, but I think the industry has figured it out. All in all, I don’t think we will see significant distress as a result of this change.” Ryanair already allows passengers to carry two bags into its cabins, one weighing up to 10 kilograms and the other being a small personal bag or handbag. EasyJet permits one free item that must fit in an overhead locker, with Plus card, flexi-fare and extra-legroom customers permitted a second. Wizz is easing baggage charges after net income jumped 50% in Q1, prompting the Budapest-based carrier to predict that full-year earnings will be close to the top of a E250m-270m range. The company has also introduced a priority-boarding option, something that should help make up for any shortfall in baggage revenue.<br/>