Air India will provide an additional baggage allowance of 5 kilograms to the passengers returning from Saudi Arabia after Haj with Zam Zam (holy water) cans.
In a statement on Tuesday, the company said that the baggage allowance on all commercial flights operating out of Saudi Arabia is uniformly 40 Kilograms, and the additional allowance will remain exclusive to the customers carrying the holy water.
"Baggage allowance on all Commercial flights operating out of Saudia Arabia (UAE) is uniformly 40 kg. Special 5kg allowance is given to those passengers who may carry Zam Zam (holy water). This special allowance cannot be converted into baggage allowance (it is exclusively for Zam Zam only),' the statement read.
"Earlier AI operated B747 and 777 aircraft from Jeddah. For 747 passengers, baggage allowance was 45 kg (inclusive of Zam Zam) i.e. passengers could carry 45 kg baggage even without Zam Zam. While for passengers who booked on B777, aircraft baggage allowance was only 40kg (including Zam Zam)," it added.
This year, the company is operating its B747 aircraft exclusively for Haj Charters and its commercial flight to and from Saudia is being operated by A320 Neo, the company said.
"Therefore, due to payload restrictions, AI management has decided to restrict the baggage allowance to 40 kg only. A special allowance of 5Kg is for Zam Zam," the statement concluded.
Earlier today, the carrier had apologised for the inconvenience caused to the customers after it banned the carrying of ZamZam cans on its narrow-bodied aircraft.
The Haj is an annual Islamic pilgrimage to Mecca, Saudi Arabia, the holiest city for Muslims, and a mandatory religious duty for Muslims that is carried out at least once in their lifetime.
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