Ryanair raises charges
"Ryanair remains determined to encourage more and more passengers to travel with carry on luggage only, which allows them to use our free of charge web check-in," Peter Sherrard, the airline's head of communications, said in a statement.
The carrier said it would raise the fee for transporting baggage in the hold of the aircraft to 6 pounds ($11.74) from 5 pounds. The cost to passengers of checking in at the airport rather than online will rise to 3 pounds from 2.
For those paying in euros, luggage charges will rise 50 percent to 9 euros ($13.16) per bag from 6 euros and the airport check-in fee will increase to 4 euros from 3.
Sherrard said the increase would not be the last and will continue "over time" until it reached a target of 50 percent of all passengers travelling with hand luggage only. Ryanair did not disclose the current take up rate.
"This will in turn allow us to reduce the number of airport check-in desks that we rent and the handling staff we employ so that we can continue to pass on these handling savings," he said.
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Thomas Mattocks
Jan 25th 2008, 19:45
After watching a programe in the Uk. called Airport I would never travel Ryan Air after watching all the problems passengers are shown to have with this Airline. Air Malta and British Airways have good deals going on just as cheap as Ryan Air. I would like to know if anyone from the ministry of tourisim can help in stating what increase in tourists to Malta this Airline has had.
Gabriele Tonna
Jan 25th 2008, 09:26
When one talks about Ryanair's hidden costs, what are they referring to? For extra service there are extra charges. As simple as that and they are listed so that we know what we are paying for!!! In November we flew to Girona and back to Malta for not more than 80euro, which included 2 adults, a 6 year old and a baby. I am sure that KM and LH could beat that ..... Dream on. If you don't like Ryanair don't fly with them.
Graham Crocker
Jan 24th 2008, 22:22
It takes one hell of a person to assume that if something is called low-cost he'd automatically throw down his hands say "Oh 3 euro's to Luton durrn" and go for the low-cost option without even considering the other better option or realizing one has to pay taxes, food, water,baggage,time booked etc. Don't Grumble, nobody is forcing anybody to go with Ryanair. Compare and choose, apart from that us Maltese should be happy that they are putting up their prices. That means our national airline will get more customers.
Mr Broadly there are Low-Cost Airlines that Charge on Weight, but it actually makes sense, because the more weight the more fuel the plane uses. Whatever, nobody is making you pay Ryanair. What we should grumble about are the Taxes you pay to leave Malta, not ... Ryanair's charge raise, because you need to pay those taxes whether you like them or not, the other option is not traveling.
M Xuereb
Jan 24th 2008, 18:57
My goodness gracious, what's all the hullaballoo about? I travelled three times with my family on vacation last year, and all three times it paid me to fly Ryanair. If it doesn't pay me next time I simply will fly another airline. Yes, it's that simple!! Three cheers to Jean Paul cos he summed up my feelings completely!
MATHIAS BARTOLO
Jan 24th 2008, 18:46
No wonder that last year Ryanair lost 3% in its load factor. Even its Luton route is suffering with its December traffic losing to 2.7% compared to last year. In the meantime Air Malta has increased its Heathrow traffic by 27%. Passengers value Air Malta's schedule, airports and service
Mary Chennell
Jan 24th 2008, 17:32
I travel every month with Ryanair between London and Malta, and the main advantages over the other carriers are first of all the travelling times and then the fact that I do not have to spend hours getting to Stansted or Gatwick before I fly.
Ryanair pilots also seem to take pride in arriving early. If that happens with Air Malta at Heathrow, the plane spends the spare time circling the airport waiting for clearance to land. At Luton, it just gets down and we can go on our way! It's horses for courses.
Jean Paul Gatt
Jan 24th 2008, 14:44
Really, I don't know why everyone complains so much. Hidden charges are not so hidden, because when you go online and pay.. they tell you the exact amount. If you are so keen on not paying for anything aboard, do a sandwich at home and take it with you. Also, any sensible person looks up a number of possible options and decide. Personally I have no loyalty to any brand, I prefer the good old maltese way "Fejn jaqbillek qabbel". I travelled with Ryan air,and when I chose to travel with them, it was the cheapest available flight. A friend of mine travelling to Poland found it cheaper to fly Malta, Luton, Warsaw .. then to fly directly with Air Malta... next time he will research again and go with the cheapest :) just float around ...
Collen Isherwood
Jan 24th 2008, 13:59
Nice one Ryanair, increasing the cost of baggage handling. I like the last sentence, where by not having baggage for the hold, it will enable Ryanair to have less desks for check-in, and therefore less staff for handling, so that Ryanair can continue to pass on the savings made?? think I am missing something here??
Sergio Zammit
Jan 24th 2008, 12:40
Quite honestly it's only a matter of time before people in Malta realise that Ryanair is not the perfect solution to air travel. They charge you for anyhing, including a glass of water if you're feeling unwell. I know all this very well since I worked for Ryanair. So far, I've never had a better service than Air Malta, and perhaps Emirates!
Marc Psaila Soler
Jan 24th 2008, 12:08
Dear Mr Mifsud, I don't know if you realised but you will not be paying less than any other time you travelled with Ryanair, its other passengers who pay more. Now, unless you have some business interests in Ryanair- which I doubt, I really cannot understand why you are so excited at the prospect of having fellow passengers paying more... In the meantime, Ryanair's 'hidden costs' keep escalating and some people still believe, rather naively, that they are paying less than if they travelled with legacy carriers.
K. Mifsud
Jan 24th 2008, 09:21
It's all quite logical, actually. You travel with a hand luggage (as I often do), you pay very little. You travel with checked in luggage, you pay very little, plus a bit. It's only fair that those who want an extra service pay for it. It also means that those of us who do not want that extra service pay less.
In other words, the customer gets the option, rather than extra costs dumped onto everyone.
A. Mifsud
Jan 23rd 2008, 23:35
I wonder how on earth Ryan Air can boast to be the "low cost" carrier when one adds up all the hidden charges. A flight with Air Malta will end up costing pretty much the same with the added benefit of reliability, flexibility, complimentary meals, drinks, and newspapers.
John Williams
Jan 23rd 2008, 21:40
What do you get if you pay peanuts?
Joseph Sammut
Jan 23rd 2008, 21:20
I too flew many times with Ryanair but never again. I flew to Malta last july with British Airways and it was £10 cheaper then Ryanair and included a meal and a drink.
James A. Tyrrell
Jan 23rd 2008, 20:35
Perhaps someone from Ryanair would be kind enough to explain to everyone how you can everything you need for a two week holiday into hand luggage. Do these people actually live in the real world? I flew to Malta with Ryanair last year and although I have no complaints regarding the actual flight I think they have a nerve to call themselves a low cost airline. It cost me more to fly with Ryanair than it did to fly with Air Malta the year before. All this airline is really interested in is making life as easy as possible for itself.
Tom Broadley
Jan 23rd 2008, 18:21
Good old Ryanair up to their old tricks again always thinking of ways to up the prices on so called cheap fares, wonder if they ever thought of weighing passengers?
Sandro Pace
Jan 23rd 2008, 18:21
I will be travelling with Rynair for the first time next month, I would not mind taking just 1 hand luggage but I would very much like to know what dimensions this has to be.