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Ryanair makes £500m on extras
10.09.09
No-frills airline Ryanair took more than half a billion pounds in extra charges from passengers last year on top of its headline fares, its accounts show today.
The company has infuriated holidaymakers by making them pay for hold luggage, priority boarding and ticket printing.
Ryanair's quarterly results show it made £548 million from “ancillary” income, which includes baggage fees, in-flight meals, commission on hotel bookings, car rental and insurance bought through its website and onboard snacks.
The figures were collated by US research group the Idea-Works Company.
The airline advertises bargain tickets, sometimes for only £5. But when tax and other costs, such as paying by card or carrying skiing equipment, are added the travel bill can rise by more than 20 times.
Ryanair announced this week it is to increase checked luggage fees again, by 50 per cent, to up to £70 a bag.
Checking in a bag at the airport goes up from £20 to £30, while registering it online goes up from £10 to £15. A second bag will cost £70 at the airport and £35 online.
In 2006, it cost £5 to put a bag in the hold on a Ryanair return flight. There are also increases for taking sports equipment on board. The charges will come into force on 1 October.
Seven out of 10 Ryanair passengers fly with only hand luggage to cut costs.
All airlines have seen fare income plummet because of the global recession.
British Airways, which lost £401 million in the last financial year, recently turned to charges to boost its takings.
It will charge up to £40 for a second piece of hold baggage for economy passengers from next month.
It has also reclassified sporting equipment, such as skis, as part of the baggage allowance, which means skiers carrying a suitcase will have to pay an extra £40 at the airport — or £32 if it is checked in online.
Virgin Atlantic is imposing a one-bag limit on economy passengers flying to destinations such as Dubai, Shanghai and Singapore from later this month, and charging £35 for extra pieces.
As a proportion of total revenue, Ryanair's “ancillary” earnings from extra charges was 19.3 per cent of its income last year.
James Freemantle, of the Air Transport Users Council, the airline watchdog, said that although Ryanair is within its rights to add these charges, they are becoming increasingly disproportionate to the fare.
He said: “There has to be a limit to the charges that the low-cost carriers are dreaming up to impose on consumers.
Families and the elderly will find it much harder to avoid them. Passengers need to make careful choices and compare prices with airlines that do not add these charges.”
A Ryanair spokesman said: “To keep fares low Ryanair provides hotel, villa, camping and hostel accommodation, travel insurance, bus and rail tickets, car hire, gift vouchers, financial services and in flight telephone services as well as in-flight beverages, food and merchandising.
“Ryanair is not simply an airline. Ryanair is the Tesco of the skies.”
Passengers can choose to avoid the fees, for example by choosing to travel without hold luggage.
Jay Sorensen, of the IdeaWorks Company, said such fees had been an “intravenous injection” helping to improve the finances of the struggling airline industry.
Reader views (11)
Last year I was flying to Reggio in Italy, I arrived at Stansted without the print out of my booking reference. Queued for ages at check in. Once I arrived at check in a surly stewardess told me to go to the customer service desk to get my booking reference (long queue there too. I did as instructed and by the time I returned to the check in desk they closed the flight. I missed the flight and after a letter of complaint no reimbursement. When I fly scheduled the check in just looks at your passport and finds you on the system. Why are Ryanair treating the general public like sheep and profiteering grossly from us into the bargain. A company without scruples! Never again.
- Emma, London
I don't have a problem with Ryanair or any of the 'budget' airlines. The cost of flying to most destinations has diminished greatly since bloated national carriers were first challenged 15 years or so ago - if you total up all the 'extras' and add it to the cost of your fare, it's still considerably less than one would have paid back in the day.
And besides, if Ryanair's service is so dreadful, why are they so successful and why do over 50 million people fly with them every year?
- Dc, London
Let Ryanair run the trains, and you'll free the non-riders from carrying the cost of the operation.
- Trunk, US
You pay peanuts , you get treated like a monkey.
Fly Ryannair the airline that dosn't care
- Mr S.Port, London
It is disgusting Ryanair is charging £5 per person per flight for its transaction fee..my wife and 2 kids travelled to Scotland and we paid £ 40 transaction fee !!! I know it only costs Ryanair £ 0.30....If i had to fly more than 1 hour I would go with a regular carrier.Ryanair's food on board is a disgrace : small pizza / snack minimum £ 4 or more..glad i had my dinner at Stansted..
- Londoner, North London
I used this ghastly airline once; never again. Best to stick to the decent ones.
- Michael, London.UK
I echo Pat's comments - flying home from Genoa with my husband and four children we were charged an additional 270 euros (we had neglected to print off our boarding cards for the return flight). An expensive mistake but not one we will ever repeat since we, too, have also vowed never to fly with RA again.
- Joanna, Sudbury, Suffolk
My biggest gripe is the £5 per person each way for using a debit card to pay for your flight. How else can I pay?On my last flight with my wife this amounted to almost 20% of the total cost. Card charges are based on the total amount of the bill, Ryanair are making a huge margin here even after they have paid Maestro, Visa etc ....
Never again ...
- Pete, N1
I am using Easy Jet and BA where possible as the last straw with Ryan Air was when they tried to charge me a fortune for using a debit card.
- Susie, London
Yes, 'extras' like checking in and baggage!
- Paul, London
Not that it will worry Mr. O'Leary I am sure, but my family and I will never fly Ryanair again after making the very expensive mistake of flying with them to Spain recently (but only because there was no other direct flight to Valencia). They care only about money, the customer's satisfaction is irrelevant.
- Pat, Barnet, UK
