Centre asks airlines to enforce one handbag policy

New Delhi: Aviation security regulator, the Bureau of Civil Aviation Security has instructed the airlines to follow the one handbag per passenger rule to ease congestion at airports. This rule was implemented after the authorities noticed passengers carrying 2 or 3 handbags inside the plane. They noticed that this is causing a delay in clearance and adding more woes to the other passengers.

What all constitute a handbag?
During official trips, you can carry one handbag (height, the width cannot go beyond 115 cms) and their weight will depend on the airline companies' rules for different classes.

Apart from this, two rules made in 2000 is also applicable here which says you can carry necessary items like a ladies handbag, laptop, overcoat, blanket, camera/binoculars, a book to read, umbrella, walking stick, snacks for children, foldable wheelchair, crutches, and some stuff from the Duty-free shop.

According to the new rule, you can’t carry more than one handbag during travelling. The onus will be on the airlines to carry on this rule stringently. Before the security check, the airlines staff should make sure the passengers are following this one bag rule strictly.

The one handbag rule should be mentioned in the ticket and boarding pass. There should be a mandatory board at the check-in counters. If need be, some of the stuff inside the handbag should be permitted to be transferred to the checking luggage.