Patrick Cooke
Big hike in Ryanair baggage fees
Ryanair passengers will have to pay more to check-in bags during the summer and Christmas holidays this year.
Hard-up Maltese travellers hoping to take their summer or Christmas holidays abroad with Ryanair this year face paying up to €105 to check-in a single bag under the no-frills airline’s new fee structure.
Upon unveiling seven new Ryanair routes to Malta last Tuesday, the budget airline’s deputy CEO Michael Cawley had said the key to Ryanair’s growth were its low fares and its guarantee of no fuel surcharges.
But while advertised fares remain on average lower than its rivals, Ryanair’s decision to charge higher baggage fees during the ‘high season’ this year means that travellers may find it is cheaper to fly with regular carriers if they intend to check-in bags, which many travellers find unavoidable if they are taking a long summer or Christmas break, particularly if they a travelling as a family.
The new fees apply to flights from Juneto September and from December 21 toJanuary 4.
During these periods, passengers caught at the airport with hand luggage that weighs over the free 10kg allowance will have to pay €100 to check-in the bag if it weighs up to 15kg – an increase of over 50 per cent from the old fee of €40. This rises to €105 for a bag up to 20kg.
These fees also apply to passengers who book through the Ryanair call centre.
Passengers who book online in advance to check-in a bag weighing up to 15kg during these peak periods will have to pay €50 per bag for a return journey, compared with €30 in the ‘low season’. A bag up to 20kg booked in advance will cost €70 for a return journey.
This means a family of four faces paying an extra €280 for return flights if they each check in a 20kg bag.
Easyjet, Ryanair’s main no-frills competitor, has a more generous free hand luggage allowance based on size rather than weight while Air Malta does not charge for suitcases up to 20kg and passengers may also carry on hand luggage up to 10kg. From today, Ryanair is also increasing its fee for printing boarding cards at the airport from €40 to €60.
The Irish carrier claims to have revolutionised air travel in Europe by stripping baggage costs out of the underlying fare.
Ryanair’s Stephen McNamara told The Sunday Times that many checked-in bags were not needed in the first place.
“Unfortunately there are still some peak travel times when some passengers over-pack. To tackle this, we have increased our check-in bag fees during some peak travel periods. Ryanair does not want the money from checked-in bag fees, we just don’t want lots of checked-in bags, as they are expensive to handle,” Mr McNamara said.
“Our success has been based on delivering the lowest fares on every route we fly and that our average fare – including one checked-in bag – was just €50 last year – compared with €125 at Air Malta,” he added.
Ryanair now operates 28 Malta routes. It claims its new routes will take its total annual Malta traffic to over one million passengers and sustain over 1,000 jobs on the island.
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Tiago Aprigio
Jan 25th, 19:47
This is a n extremely tendentious article.
This "face paying up to €105 to check-in a single bag under the no-frills airline’s new fee structure." is not true when you want to check-in a bag normally, by the time you book your flights online, as the fee is 25€ per flight (50 return) for a 15kg bag.
The 105€ fee is in fact when a passenger appears in the boarding gate with over sized and/or over weighted bags that don't meet the measures and weights previously agreed when purchasing the ticket. Good to mention that when your ticket is printed, the measure and weight of cabin bags are clearly displayed! In my opinion the Times of Malta should inform in a clear and non-tendentious way. This article misleads readers to think that to check-in their bags they would have to pay 105€ and that is not true!
Pablo Micallef
Jan 15th, 23:39
no way! this will isolate us from mainland europe once again! Any chance of bridging with Sicily instead of Gozo pls?
Pablo Micallef
Jan 15th, 23:39
This will isolate us from mainland europe once again! Any chance of bridging with Sicily instead of Gozo pls?
william staines
Jan 15th, 20:44
Madeline Cini Caruana.
I'm afraid that you are completely wrong, you can never book emergency exit seats online, ever. There are requirements and these seats are allocated at the airport. If you want one from now on you have to pay £20, check it out and then tell me I'm wrong. I don't know how long you have been flying with KM but the LHR always offered a bottle of wine or beer up until a year or two ago and I can assure you there was a lovely cream cheese called ''Bella Pais'' that I looked forward to. I flew with them yesterday and as usual the tables were cleared pretty quickly without offering 2nd beverage and for the last two hours of the flight the crew ate their meal and sat in empty seats chatting amongsat them selves. Not once did I see a smaile on their faces, they looked like they would rather be elsewhere, as in deed I would have liked to have been. Check your facts before you make sweeping coments.
Madeline Cini Caruana
Jan 17th, 02:21
Ok, so let me tell you. I flew with AirMalta 3 weeks ago from London Heathrow to Malta. When I booked online, I chose to do check in ' online' aswell, and I had no problem at all to reserve a seat 'anywhere' on the plane. Secondly, I think, thay have included the extra charge of £20 because 'you' wanted to seat beside the emergency door.!!! I travel with KM about 2 to 3 trips a year, and never offered a 'free' bottle of wine and beer', because I bought it in some trips. About the Italian cheese you mentioned, I never saw it in airmalta meal, because perhaps was your 'choice'. Obviously, that tables will be cleared quickly, for many secure reasons, and if you want to have another coffee, just call the assistant and ask for more, or else just to go few steps and the back of the plane (kitchenette and ask for more, like I do) NO BIG DEAL and is FREE!!!. I always met with friendly staff. Excuse me, but I don't know what you pretend, in 2 hrs 50 mins, they are not statues!!!
By the way, I know very well the facts, and If you don't like to travel with AirMalta its better you fly with another airline rather to mouning and criticise. Without facts!!!! Thanks :)
Anthony Arpa
Jan 15th, 20:30
I have used Ryanair many times anf yes i have always said that i used Ryanair as it was by far the cheapest while still this airline offers good service..... But with this much to add for luggage Ryanair flight cost wont any more be much cheaper so both myself and many other for that bit little more will sure dont use Ryanair or any low cost Airline that take this decision.... Everyone compare the rates that airline offers before do their bookings...... If this is going to be a fact i am certain that Ryanair customers will surely drop.
Anthony Arpa
S. Camilleri
Jan 15th, 20:09
What a con of an airline! I used them just once. They were adequate as long as you just want to travel for a couple of days, are not travelling with kids , it is ok to travel at unearthly hours and do not mind taking little spare clothes ... Otherwise steer clear of them and these constant hiking of their real fare structures make it less and less likely to treat them seriously!
R Camilleri
Jan 15th, 16:31
One more thing to keep in mind before paying these hefty charges. If you ever have any problem with your checked-in baggage forget any kind of compensation if anything happens to it. Mine was found smashed on arrival in Malta and even pictures were taken by their handling agent on filing the report. In spite of the several letters, faxes etc which followed, no response was ever received. Furthermore their agent is not in a position to follow the matter or do anything either!! So think twice before paying extra for your luggage.
Jeffrey Mallia
Jan 15th, 16:02
If you dont like it, dont use it.....................simple
Ms Margaret Williams
Jan 15th, 19:42
Its not a question if likeing it, but RyanAir is making it a bit harder to like it, by increasing their asking fees, whats next, first it was the 1£ to use the toilet, then the fatties extra fare, now it the luggage in question.
James Tyrrell
Jan 15th, 15:05
What gets me is that the airlines jump all over you if you onboard baggage is above a certain weight by a few kilos or won't fit in a frame of a certain size but they don't give a damn what size the passenger is! I'm average weight and average height so I guess I'm just an average passenger but I have seen people coming onto Ryanair flights who are so fat they can hardly move and for their height they are probably at least 10 stone overweight but do they get charged extra? No they don't but the average person like me with an extra kilo in my bag gets crucified!
Godfrey Grima
Jan 15th, 12:51
If Ryanair's fares have remained low but they are increasing ancillary charges regularly it means only one thing. Ryanair is becoming more expensive. As Air Malta re-structures and becomes healthier, Ryanair will only do one thing. Demand more subsidies.
When Ryanair said it will bring just under a quarter of a million tourists a few years ago when they set up base in Malta, I worked out that if they operate a peak schedule all year round (which no airline does as flights are cancelled or reduced in the winter time) with maximum capacity on every flight the figure falls to just over half a million. I will not bother to work out this new figure they mention as by now we all know the answer.
Even the MHRA have now lost faith in the saviour of Malta's tourism industry. They have been conned. And they know it. They will just not admit it. Not yet. But in their last press conference or whatever it was, for the first time in the past 6 years the words Low-Cost-Airlines was conveniently not mentioned once. Not even once..! Whereas in the past they were betting their life on LCC's.
http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20111126/local/Lower-seat-capacity-means-tough-winter.395563
Victor Vella
Jan 15th, 11:41
Rynair is making profits because it has a good marketing plan and is investing in people through technology while continue to increase economies of scale and investing its profits to make customers` experience more enjoyable. While opening more routes Ryanair is making more aircraft utilization while lower break even load factor. While I appreciate that Ryanair is making air travel more democratically available to everybody the statement to sustain 1,000 jobs on the island is a far cry from reality and only discussed to an esoteric language of no value.
Joseph Sammut
Jan 15th, 11:40
Joseph sammut
Just stop moaning and dont use this airline,we stop using ryan air two years ago ,they are a con on their chgarges,use a proper airline
we do
Anton Restall
Jan 15th, 12:55
I agree, I have never used or will use this airline in the future. Why can't all airlines advertise the total price upfront??
Charles Cremona
Jan 15th, 11:32
They say that you get what you pay for in this world, Ryan Air will soon start charging for you to use use the toilet,, they can't wait for Air Malta to go under so they can then have the market to themselves and start charging what they like. I have never flown or will ever fly with Ryan Air as I like to take luggage with me when I go to London and I have never found better than Air Malta yet when it comes to reliability and quality and that means more to me than saving a few euros.
S.M. Cuschieri
Jan 15th, 18:47
I totally concur!! I have only ever flown with Air Malta and I do not even wish to try Ryan Air. Xorta in the long run it turns out to be expensive for a S****y service! I mean I wish to take a suitcase with me and if they are going to charge me 105 euros for it, well you do not have to be a rocket scientist to fathom it out! And they charge you through the nose just for a bottle of water. Qisha flight tal-moghoz narahom jien :). I am very happy, thank you, with our national airline.
william staines
Jan 15th, 11:06
It's not only Ryanair that is looking for extra revenue, Air Malta charges £10 to book online, it also is looking for £20 to sit in the emergency exit row, and if you dare to take up one of these seats after departure they make such a fuss and tell you to move back to your own seat. At least with Ryanair you don't have the passenger in front reclining into your leg space. With Air Malta lots of little extras have quietly disapeared, the Italian cheese went, the free bottle of beer or wine on the LHR route was stopped and then the free head phone to watch the movie went, I mean they both went, no more movie. No more second round of tea or coffee and worst of all no more smiles on the faces of cabin crew. They seam to be an unhappy lot.
Madeline Cini Caruana
Jan 15th, 17:05
Mr. William Steins,
I have to correct you on your information regarding AirMalta. ( btw I'm not part of Airmalta crew whatsoever). I always used Air Malta for my travelling and honestly never had regrets. RyanAir never was my option to travel with.
About some services you had just mentioned are not true. So, doing online check in - there is no extra charge, for £20 to sit in the emergency exit row is not true, ( Airmalta give you the oppprtunity to seat whereever you like, on subject of availability), the Italian cheese, I can't tell you about it, but about the free bottle of wine and beer, as far as I know they've been always on extra charge. I always ask for tea and coffee for second and third time and never charged me extra tip or showed 'sad' faces.
The only thing I agree with you is about the movie. It will be an extra activity if there will be a movie on during the flight, but is not a 'big deal'. However, listening to radio is still on.
Moreover, I'm just a customer ( not a patronized person) who likes to travel with Air Malta because they have friendly staff and worth it too!!! ( Tha is my personal opinion :))
Paul Caruana
Jan 15th, 10:47
If the trip will not last more than a few days, it is actually quite possible to pack light and stay within Ryanair's rigid free baggage allowance.
On the other hand, if the plan is to come back loaded with shopping, you really need to check if it is worth it, considering the stiff baggage fees you will then be forced to pay.
Doris Farrugia
Jan 15th, 12:18
A good solution is sending extra baggage by post.My daughter did that from Germany and was really worthwhile.
Neville Roberts
Jan 15th, 09:58
You get what you pay for and if you know the rules in advance, no excuses, then you get a great deal. Play by the rules and enjoy !! Well done Ryanair.
Anton Restall
Jan 15th, 12:57
Shame Ryanair can play be the rules. (credit card charges etc..)
C Cassar
Jan 15th, 09:45
This is absolutely no surprise. Many will still fly with Ryan Air because they assume they are cheaper than other airlines . Many fall for their marketing and yet don't understand that many other airlines offer much better deals. Ryan Air's business model is to lure people with potentially "good" deals and then hike their prices using indirect charges such as these. They prey on the naive traveller.