SAS is considering introducing a charge for low-fare passengers who elect to check in for flights at the airport.
SAS manager of IT solutions Morgan Svensson says the carrier may implement an offline check-in charge only for passengers travelling on the cheapest fare classes. "It costs us a lot of money when a customer uses a check-in desk," he says. "So we want our customer to use the internet, mobile portal or kiosk."
Several low-cost carriers including flybe and Ryanair already have introduced charges for checked baggage. In their drive to find more new ancillary revenue sources, many are now looking at charging for desk check-in. For example, flybe commercial officer Mike Rutter said in September the UK budget carrier "would like to start charging" passengers "who do not check in online".
The SAS Group's move to charge for offline check-in could be timed with its "new commercial SAS" project. This project will synchronise from mid-2007 the services offered by SAS Denmark, SAS Braathens, SAS Sweden and SAS International. Each carrier now offers a different service level although passengers are unaware when buying tickets which carrier will operate the flight.
Source: Airline Business
