High fuel costs causes Philippine Air to reduce baggage allowance

Philippine Air announced earlier this week that free baggage allowance on trans-Pacific routes would be cut down due to high fuel costs.

Passengers flying to or from the United States will now only be allowed 50 pounds (23kg) of free baggage, compared to the earlier allowance of 70 pounds, according to a statement made by Andrew Huang, Chief Financial Officer.

The amount of water that the airline carries will also be cut back and there will be less food choices during flights to reduce weight, according to Reuters.

Huang said, "These initiatives will improve our situation by USD$20 million - USD$30 million, or probably in the vicinity of USD$30 million or more a year at the current price of fuel"

He added that costs were “heating up” and that the carriers’ revenue was growing at a much slower pace than their expense were growing.

A 77 percent drop in net income at USD$30.6 million was reported by Philippines Airlines in the fiscal year ending March, and it has predicted that its net income for this year may be lower than in 2008/09.