Airline passengers traveling between Taiwan and the US and Canada will see a sharp drop in the weight limit for free baggage transport starting on April 15, the Civil Aeronautics Administration (CAA) said yesterday.
The CAA has approved airlines' request to reduce the free baggage allowance by 18kg from 64kg to 46kg.
Each passenger will be allowed to take two pieces of luggage for free transport, with each bag limited to 23kg, the CAA said.
Additional fees will be charged for excess or overweight baggage, it said.
In the case of China Airlines, passengers whose luggage exceeds 23kg will have to pay NT$800, with the weight limit for each piece of luggage set at 32kg.
Passengers who have more than two pieces of luggage will have to pay more than NT$3,000 for each extra bag.
First-class and business-class passengers will continue to enjoy preferential treatment.
EVA Airways spokesman Nieh Kuo-wei (聶國維) said that business-class passengers could still carry three pieces of luggage for free, the Chinese-language Apple Daily said.
However, the weight allowance was adjusted downward from a combined weight of 96kg to 87kg.
As for Deluxe-class passengers, they can carry two pieces of luggage, with a weight limit of 28kg for each piece, Nieh said.
He said that the baggage limit had been changed in response to rising fuel prices.
He said that the weight limit for domestic US routes had also been reduced to 23kg, and passengers may be charged extra when they travel on US routes if Taiwan did not adjust its baggage allowance.
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