£6m a day from seating and luggage fees

RYANAIR is squeezing more than £6million a day in extra charges from passengers, it emerged yesterday.

A surge in the number of people paying extra just to reserve a seat or bring a second bag on board has enabled the budget airline to generate £ 1.15billion from add- ons in just six months.

In results posted yesterday, the Irish-based carrier revealed the amount it generated from ‘ancillary sales’ soared by 27 per cent.

It includes everything apart from the fare and baggage fee – ranging from priority boarding to seats with extra legroom, snacks and sandwiches and car hire.

This has pushed up the average amount paid in extras per passenger to around £15.

Ryanair blamed strikes by cabin crew, pilots and air traffic controllers, as well as higher fuel costs, for dragging down its profit by 7 per cent to £1.06billion. A controversial crackdown in January meant passengers had to pay between £6 and £8 for priority boarding if they wanted to take a second, larger bag – such as a wheelie suitcase – on board the plane.

Ryanair insisted it was purely to cut down on delays caused by passengers bringing on more luggage than could fit in the overhead lockers. The airline also doubled the cost of seat reservation charges earlier this year while hiking the cost of extra legroom seats.

Seat reservation fees increased from £2 to £4 per passenger for one journey – or £8 for a return trip. Reserving a seat with extra legroom rose from £11 to £15 per journey. Parents with children under 12 have to pay £6 to guarantee they can sit with them.

The Civil Aviation Authority has been investigating the price of tickets and ‘add-on charges’ including booking and baggage fees.

One of the main focuses of the probe will be allegations some airlines are deliberately splitting families up unless they pay to reserve seats. The watchdog estimates this tactic is costing passengers up to £400million a year in fees.

Its initial findings show that on Ryanair more than one in three families are separated. The airline has strongly denied accusations it deliberately splits up families and says it allocates seats on a random basis.

But Guy Anker, managing editor at Moneysavingexpert, said: ‘It is appalling if this is a deliberate tactic.’ He added: ‘These charges are not hidden, but they’re still sneaky.’

A Ryanair spokesman said: ‘Customers may choose to purchase additional products and services, the prices for which are fully transparent and displayed throughout the booking process.’