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'No cost' flights from Ryanair - but passengers will incur other costs
Last updated at 23:52pm on 05.11.07
No-frills: Ryanair chief executive Michael O'Leary wants to offer free flights but the company will make up its costs through 'extra' charges
Chief executive Michael O'Leary announced yesterday: "It's our ultimate ambition to get to a stage where the fare is free."
But Mr O'Leary confirmed that the airline's check-in charge would double from £2 to £4 only months after its introduction.
There are also hefty charges for baggage.
Passengers who book online and travel with only hand-luggage are exempt from the charge - introduced in August - as they save Ryanair having to spend more on staff.
Currently 9 per cent of passengers meet these criteria, but Mr O'Leary wants the proportion to reach 40 per cent.
He said: "We are upfront about it - the baggage charges at Ryanair will rise.
"The check-in charges will rise. Until we get to 40 per cent doing it online over the next year or two - that (charge) will double."
Mr O'Leary yesterday hailed the charging experiment as a success, saying the numbers checking in over the Internet had doubled in the first half of the year.
And he is unrepentant about baggage fees, saying: 'I can go away for two weeks with just my overnight bag.
"Instead of packing a hairdryer, why not buy one when you get there?"
The airline's pre-tax profits have risen by 23.5 per cent to £320million for the first six months of this year.
Ryanair's revenue from 'scheduled services', which includes ticket sales and baggage charges, hit £905million, up 20 per cent from £760million.
But the boom in in-flight sales of food and drinks, and services such as car rental and travel insurance, have helped boost "ancillary revenues" to nearly £175.5million - up a staggering 54 per cent from £114million for the same period last year.
It means £1 in every £6 now earned by the budget airline comes from non-ticket areas.
Passengers would still have to pay airport charges under a free-fares policy.
Already Ryanair tempts flyers with no-frills tickets at just £1 each way - plus taxes.
But customers can still spend big onboard, with sandwiches costing three times as much as the basic advertised price of a ticket, drinks, gifts - and even bingo.
The airline is also testing a service to allow passengers to use mobile phones during flights.
Reader views (12)
If I ever have a choice of airline on a route, I will invariably avoid Ryanair. Their customer service is appaling, baggage reclaim is eternal, their staff are rude, unkempt and not at all professional. Low fares, granted. But you would hardly be expected to pay money for a flight that leaves about 100km from a major city, at 6am in the morning or 11pm at night, having paid double your fare to get to the remote airport. What's more, once you start adding up fees, hidden costs, surcharges, surface transport, you might as well fly on BA, where staff are trained, professional and treat you with respect.
- Andrew, Spain, 09/11/2007 14:49
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I was recently running late for a flight by five minutes. So basically arrived 40 minutes before departure without luggage to check in. The damage to me was 100 pounds for changing two tickets onto the next flight. Very poor service throughout and I am tired of saving on airfare, but ending up on more cost due to other fees and ground transport to remote airports. Not going to use them ever again if I can avoid it.
- Frank, London, 08/11/2007 11:11
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British Airways is worse: service also bad, but at least with Ryanair you do not pay through the nose!
- Jacqueline, Hampstead, London, 06/11/2007 21:12
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Ryanair can be cheap but their customer service is very bad too.
- Jenny, London, 06/11/2007 17:15
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It's not the extras I object to, its the way Ryanair hide the costs in their advertising and headline prices then drip feed the extras into the booking procedure so never know what the true cost is until the very end. If O'Leary is so proud of his low costs he should not be afraid to display them and include all non-optional costs, like taxes, in his headline pricing.
- Ron, London, 06/11/2007 14:44
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With air travel, as with life, you get what you pay for. With low cost airlines, you pay peanuts and get planes packed with inebriated chavs that land at airports in the middle of nowhere.
- Mark, London, 06/11/2007 14:24
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Maybe one day Mr O'Leary will pay us to fly on his planes? He should, as anyone who has ever flown with them will testify it's a horrible experience.
- Nick, London, 06/11/2007 14:08
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Oh for goodness sakes, you guys. Grow up! This is the real world and businesses have to make money somehow. Stop whinging and vote with your feet, based on quality vs price. No one is forcing you to fly Ryanair, so just button it and fly British Airways then. It's a free country.
- Haskey101, London, 06/11/2007 13:46
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Reading this article once again drives home the fact that it's just better to pay more and fly with a "proper" airline. Many people seem to think that budget airlines are cheap, but fail to take into account the sometimes extortionate cost of getting to and from the airports that are miles away from your destination (not to mention the extra travelling time required).
Ryanair especially, has really early morning flights, that get you to your destination really early, but then as you have had almost no sleep due to the 6:30am departure, when you arrive at your destination you are just too tired to enjoy sightseeing and all you want to do is sleep. At least by BA and other major airlines have departure times that are more agreeable with getting a good night's sleep.
The online check in is great as it further reduces your costs, but it isn't always easy (and can sometimes be an absolute pain) to find an internet cafe with printing facilities etc when you are abroad. It's fine checking in online from home, but sometimes it may just be more hassle than it's worth when away.
I'm all for BA and not to mention enjoying a glass of wine enroute!
- Gavin Compton, London, 06/11/2007 13:25
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I think this is just a way to get around the advertising ban on not displaying the real cost of the flight.
The over night bag for 2 weeks, hmmmm.. lets see Mr O' Leary put that to the test. Why not show everyone just how you can pack for two weeks in one little bag.
I think he expects you to buy all your clothes while you're there and then leave them behind when you leave.
The truth is that this is just a way to justify larger fares and blame the customer for taking luggage. If everyone was to do as O'Leary says he would have a huge shortfall and would just up the fares in some other way... Maybe charging for emotional baggage?
- Mark, London, 06/11/2007 12:42
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Hmmm, so feasibly if you miss your flight it costs you nothing? All taxes and surcharges should be refunded as you haven't actually flown, is this going to happen? Not likely.
- Trevor Roll, London, 06/11/2007 10:47
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So Mr O'Leary suggests going without a hairdryer and buying one at your destination ... what exactly does he suggest you do with it when your trip is finished? Assuming you want to bring it home with you (fair enough as its brand new) it may then mean you need to put your bag in the hold after all? Maybe he can afford to buy everything new so that all he takes is an overnight bag for 2 weeks and possibly leaves everything he buys new behind, but very few others can.
- Louise, Essex, 06/11/2007 10:35
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