Ryanair the fourth most profitable airline in the world

Budget airline Ryanair made almost £550m last year in extra charges such as baggage fees, in-flight food and insurance costs, according to researchers in America.

It is the fourth most profitable airline in the world when it comes to the money it makes from “ancilliary revenue” and the most profitable in Europe, a report by the research group IdeaWorks said.

The table was topped by three US airlines: American Airlines, United Airlines and Delta. Ryanair makes almost 20% of its total revenue through these ancillary charges, the research group said, a 73% rise from 2006.

The airline is renowned among consumers for its extra charges, which can more than treble the original quoted price of a ticket in some cases.

These include a £10 fee for the first checked in bag and £20 for each subsequent bag, a £5 payment handling fee for a one-way flight, a £20 charge for children under two to fly, and a £5 online check-in fee for a one way flight.

Last week, Ryanair announced it would increase its luggage charges by 50% to £30 for the first bag from 1 October.

A spokesman for the airline responded to the research by describing Ryanair as “not simply an airline” but the “Tesco of the skies”.

“We deliver Europe’s lowest fares as a result of these [ancilliary revenue] services,” he said.

A number of American airlines, including Delta and American Airlines, have also announced they will charge similar fees to BA and Virgin for additional baggage.

These increases in ancillary revenue charges are likely to increase as airlines search for new ways to claw back lost revenue. A spokesman for IdeaWorks said: “The sickly patient known as the world’s airline industry suffered through 2008 and only survived due to dramatic schedule cutbacks, the slow reversal of fuel prices and an intravenous injection of ancillary revenue.”

Source: guardian.co.uk