Baggage woes! When athletes PV Sindhu, Saina Nehwal ran into trouble with airlines for their playing kits

Professional athletes constantly take to the skies with their trusty equipment in tow. But, at times, the extra baggage comes with some extra trouble.

Olympic silver medallist PV Sindhu recently shared a series of tweets on the ‘rude’ behaviour of the airline ground staff over her kit bag. The airline, however, responded that the ace shuttler was carrying an oversized bag that didn’t fit in the overhead bin, and had to be moved to the cargo hold of the aircraft. Other Indian athletes share their experiences of flying with their playing kits.

Saina Nehwal
Badminton player “Generally, I carry a backpack with my rackets, which are really fragile as they are made of carbonlike metals. And I have faced problems while travelling by various airlines. The airhostess or the ground staff keep saying that the kit is oversized. They grumble that it may cause inconvenience to other passengers. I have always tried to resolve the matter by keeping it in the overhead cabin. At times, it does get annoying as I need to travel with it and there is not much choice. I need my kit with me and keeping it in the hold could damage it.”

Heena Sidhu



Sport shooter “As a shooter, I have faced a lot of problems. First of all travelling with guns is not a pleasant experience. Most airlines have their own rules and the problem is every staff member has his or her own interpretation. So, it really depends on who you end up dealing with when you are checking in. Now, they have started charging `4,000 to `5,000 per gun depending on the airline. On being questioned why they were demanding a fee, they say the weapon bag can’t be sent on the belt as normal luggage and they have to appoint a person to load and unload it and bring it back safely. So, unlike normal luggage, one or two staff members are dedicated only for the bag and hence the extra cost. Domestic flights now also have a baggage limit of 15-20 kg. So, if my clothing suitcase is within the limits, it doesn’t matter. They charge extra baggage for the weapon bag. My 10-kg weapon bag with two pistols gets charged `13,000 one way. How do you expect youngsters who travel around the country carrying their sports pistols to compete in national-level competitions? Foreign airlines also have such policies, but they are better. They charge per box and don’t include the weapon box tithe in the allowable baggage. Once you pay, they take care of the whole bag i r resp ec tive of its weight or the number of pistols inside.”

Karun Nair



Cricketer “I haven’t really had any problems. We travel as a team and there are team and logistics managers who take care of this. But while travelling alone, you have to do everything by yourself — manage the baggage as well as carry the kit. If we are injured and unable to carry [the bag], there is always someone to help. Normally, we don’t pay too much attention to it. I think there shouldn’t be any problems with us carrying the kits. We are playing for our country. I think these things should be taken care of by the respective airlines. If the airlines need to do some checking, every player will cooperate.”

Joshna Chinappa



Squash player “I have faced similar difficulties flying with my kit bag as cabin baggage but only on domestic airlines. There were a couple of instances where the staff were very rude during the check-in and refused to let me take it on board. Since I had travelled many times earlier, I spoke to the airport manager and the security guards, who had no problem in letting me fly with my kit bag as my hand baggage. The thing is, I am happy to comply with putting my kit bag as check in for safety or airline regulations, but it isn’t right when the airline staff are rude and don’t know how to talk to the passenger with respect. I usually tend to check my bag in and request them to put a fragile sticker on my bag so it’s somewhat handled with care. Athletes should be allowed to travel with their bags as long as they fit into the overhead bins and obviously depending on what type of playing equipment they carry.”