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Will we be sending airline luggage by parcel machine?
InPost allows you to send your suitcase to and from a parcel machine. This could be the next revolution in the airline market. It could shake one of the foundations of the business model of low-cost carriers, and spoil some blood for the traditional ones as well.
Rafal Brzoska, the creator and CEO of InPost, announced a new service: sending luggage to parcel machines abroad. In doing so, he threw down the gauntlet to airlines such as Ryanair and Wizz Air.
“More than once I’ve come to trash things because the ‘low-cost airlines’ are constantly changing airline luggage policies for their passengers and constantly raising prices upwards! We will be building a new leg of the business based on ‘send and return’ luggage!” – he wrote on the X platform.
Ticket without luggage included. What are the low-cost airlines making money on?
Why could this be the harbinger of a revolution? One of the pillars of the business model of low-cost airlines is unbundling, i.e. separating or even freeing the price of an airline ticket from the individual components of the carriage service. That’s why you pay separately for seat selection (if you don’t want to rely on random selection by the system), for travel with a cabin suitcase in your carry-on luggage (and priority boarding), for checked airline luggage, and for meals and drinks on the plane.
Michael O’Leary, Ryanair’s chief executive, said back in 2012 that airline tickets could be free. The condition? The carrier would have to significantly increase profits from ancillary services. – We need to increase revenue from other services like on-board entertainment, gambling and restroom fees. Then tickets could be free,” he told the Newseria news agency at the time.
The low-cost airlines’ strategy has also been followed by traditional carriers, with the introduction of much cheaper Saver economy class fares. Most often you won’t find checked luggage, for example, and seat selection and cancellation or change in travel will be charged.
New service. Send a suitcase to a parcel machine, not to a plane
Sending a suitcase as a parcel may be cheaper than transferring it for a fee to the hold of an airplane on a low-cost airline. However, it is worth remembering that the lead time for such a service is longer – from three to five days.
The maximum weight of such shipment is 25 kg. Shipping service from Poland is possible to parcel machines in eight European countries: France, Spain, Portugal, Germany, Belgium, Italy, the Netherlands, Luxembourg. The United Kingdom is expected to join soon, followed by other countries. The cost? One-way from PLN 28.99 to PLN 54.99, depending on dimensions.
Wizz Air – according to its website – charges from about PLN 36 to as much as PLN 441 for luggage up to 10 kg, purchased online or by phone, depending on the season. For a suitcase weighing up to 20 kg, you have to pay from nearly PLN 60 to as much as PLN 563. For luggage weighing 32 kg, the lower forks start at more than PLN 93, while the upper ones reach almost PLN 570.
Ryanair’s pricing is similar. On the website, checked luggage up to 10 kg costs from 9.49 to 44.99 euros, larger luggage (20 kg) – from 18.99 to 59.99 euros.
InPost has already started putting up its parcel machines at airports. Two such devices are in operation at Chopin Airport – in the Fast Track security check area and near the coach terminal. The company wants to expand their network at airports to develop the service of sending and receiving luggage.
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