Ryanair and other no-frills airlines are more expensive on some short-haul flights than Air Malta and other carriers, an exercise carried out by The Sunday Times shows.
In a survey yesterday of 28 return flights from Malta to seven destinations between September and March, Ryanair was the cheapest option overall, but proved to be more expensive than Air Malta for five flights, and British Midland Airways (BMI) for two flights, even before 'optional' charges were added.
The highly successful Irish airline was also more expensive than Air Malta and Scandinavian Airlines (SAS) for another two flights when optional charges were added for services which the other airlines included as standard.
The Sunday Times compared prices of return flights by selecting seven routes from Malta, selecting the lowest fare on the day of travel, and adding the cost of checking-in hold luggage if not included in the price.
Ryanair is known for enticing customers with well-publicised eye-catching deals - last week it offered one million free tickets to 500 European destinations.
However, the price can increase dramatically when extra fees are taken into account - the airline charges each passenger booking online an extra €10 per one-way flight to check in one piece of hold luggage weighing up to 15kg, and €5 per one-way flight unless Visa Electron is used.
For new bookings, Ryanair now also charges a compulsory fee of €5 per passenger, per one-way flight to check-in online, following its decision to phase out all airport check-in desks by October 1.
If passengers fail to check-in online they will be charged a further €40 to have a boarding pass reissued at the airport.
An example of the impact of Ryanair's additional charges is a return flight to Trapani, Sicily, departing on September 13 and returning on September 20, for a family of two adults and two children.
The initial seat price shown on the Ryanair website was €14.99 per person going out and €5.99 per person coming back, making a total of €295.80 with compulsory taxes and fees.
However, if each family member checked in one piece of hold luggage and paid with a card other than Visa Electron, the total cost was €415.80.
The family could have booked to fly with Air Malta to Palermo, Sicily, on the same dates for €234.76.
Among the other four instances when Ryanair was beaten outright by Air Malta was a flight to London (Luton) for two adults departing on October 21 and returning October 24.
The cost of the Ryanair flights was initially €452.66 including taxes and online check-in, but this rose to €512.66 after cash-handling fees and charges for checking-in hold luggage. On the same dates, the two adults could have booked flights with Air Malta to London Gatwick for €350.02. They could also have booked return flights with BMI to London Gatwick for €374.
SAS proved to be competitive on the Stockholm route. A family of two adults and two children wishing to take a late summer break in Sweden could have booked return flights to Stockholm with SAS departing on September 20 and returning on September 27 for €981.60.
Flights on the same dates with Ryanair to Stockholm (Skavsta) could have cost the family €996.64 after payment fees and charges for checking-in one piece of hold luggage each.
No full-service carriers bettered Ryanair's fares on the Dublin, Edinburgh, Barcelona (Girona) or Madrid routes. Ryanair also proved to be cheaper overall than other budget carriers.
On the routes selected, it was only beaten once by Vueling - on return flights for two adults and two children to Madrid departing September 12/13 and returning September 19 - and once by Easyjet - on return flights to London for four adults departing September 21 and returning September 28. BMI and Air Malta also beat Ryanair's return prices to London on these dates.
A spokesman for Ryanair said the airline refuses to believe it has ever had a basic fare more expensive than Air Malta.
"If passengers ever achieve the impossible and find a fare lower than Ryanair's, they should use our low fares guarantee which pledges to provide them with double the difference," he said.
However, the low fares guarantee excludes credit/debit card fees, baggage fees, web check-in, priority boarding and any other optional fees. Air Malta said customers were not always aware of the hidden costs of budget airlines. A spokesman for the national carrier cited an EU Commission report published last May on airline ticket selling websites across Europe in terms of compliance with consumer protection rules.
Air Malta's website was one of the few to meet all the standards required, including clear pricing, availability of offers and fair contract terms, he said.