Ryanair's chief executive, Michael O'Leary, said this week that the airline's ' ultimate ambition is to get to a stage where the fare is free.' However, don't expect to fly for free when this happens. Ryanair is becoming very adept at finding other ways to charge passengers, with fees including a £2 charge to check in at the airport. And Mr. O'Leary confirmed that this charge was to double from £2 to £4, less than two months after it was introduced.
In the three months to the end of September, Europe's biggest budget airline earned 16% of its revenues from add-ons such as food and luggage charges. Although growth in this area towards Ryanair's target of 20% of revenues could mean that air fares were free, you'll pay for everything else, so overall the cost of flying with the airline is unlikely to be lower.
The doubling of the check in charge comes less than two months after the charge was introduced in September. There are also heavy charges for check-in baggage, with passengers who want to carry cases in the hold forced to pay both charges. Only passengers who check in online and travel with only hand-luggage are exempt from these charges.
Currently around 9 percent of Ryanair's passengers meet these criteria, but Mr O'Leary wants the proportion to reach 40 - 45 percent, the proportion of travellers who are taking a flight and returning within two days, so that Ryanair can cut staff cost.
Mr. O'Leary said the counter check-in charges has already succeeded in encouraging passengers to check in online. A month after the charges were introduced, the number of passengers using web check-ins doubled. |
