New Delhi, May 30: The civil aviation ministry plans to limit the number of seats for which airlines can charge extra to about 15-20 per cent of the seats on a flight.

“We think six seats each in the front and emergency exit rows, which offer extra legroom, can be put up for preferred seating charge. Apart from this, window and aisle seats from the second to fifth rows can also attract these charges,” a civil aviation ministry official said.

Most of the domestic carriers have two types of aircraft — single-aisle Airbus A-320 and Boeing-737 — which share similar configuration. These planes have a maximum capacity of 140 seats.

If the government introduces this measure, each flight will have not more than 30 preferential seats.

After the civil aviation regulator on April 30 allowed extra levies on some services, carriers such as IndiGo, Jet and Air India decided to charge a premium for booking a seat.

IndiGo is charging on an average Rs 500 for seating in rows one, two and emergency exit rows in a domestic flight and Rs 800 for an international flight.

It also started charging extra for middle seats but was forced to stop the practice as this did not go down well with travellers and the directorate general of civil aviation (DGCA).

According to ministry officials, to ensure transparency, the airlines would have to inform the public through their websites and agents about the preferred seats available and the charges.

Carriers such as Jet Airways and Air India also reduced the weight of free baggage allowance to 15kg from 20kg on domestic flights.

According to the ministry, an airline selling about 25 preferred seats on a flight will be able to earn an additional revenue worth Rs 8-10 crore annually.

April traffic

Global air passenger traffic grew 3.2 per cent in April over a year ago, driven by travel in emerging markets, the International Air Transport Association today said.