Ryanair boss reveals infuriating reason for airline’s hated hidden charges – and claims they’re good for customers
THE BOSS of Ryanair has defended the airline’s unpopular hidden charges that have caused fury in recent years.
The low-cost airline is known for its steep fees, such as £115 for airport check in and £55 for boarding pass printing.
Many Brits have been caught out in recent months, with many of the extra costs sometimes double the amount of the ticket.
However, Ryanair boss Michael O’Leary has said the extra fees are needed – and not for the reason you might think.
Speaking to the Independent, he said: “It costs us a fortune to rent airport ticket desks, to have staff sitting beside those ticket desks to look after about 0.2 per cent of our customer base who agree they’ll check in before they arrive at the airport, who get multiple reminders to do so, and still wheel up to the airport.
“We don’t want the money, we just don’t want anybody showing up the airport without having checked in online. It’s a very simple policy.”
He explained that the charges mean they can keep their flight prices down for passengers.
Mr O’Leary continued: “The benefit of it is: that enables us to offer lower fares than any other airline to our travelling public.”
Ryanair regularly has some of the cheapest flights in the UK, with fares from £9.99.
Mr O’Leary said it was the same for oversized baggage, claiming they “don’t want the money […] just don’t want your bag”.
However, he said Ryanair would “not apologise” for charging the extras as they were “breaking the rules” of the airline.
In August, an elderly couple sparked a furious debate after Ryanair charged them £110 to print their boarding passes.
Ruth and Peter Jaffe mistakenly printed their return boarding passes rather than their outgoing ones, so were charged £55 each to print the correct ones at the airport.
Their daughter slammed Ryanair on social media, with many agreeing with her.
However, the airline defended the charge, with a spokesperson saying: “We regret that these passengers ignored their email reminder and failed to check in online.”
And last month, a family had to pay £165 to check in at the airport, despite claiming they did it online before they arrived.
Here are some other ways you could be caught out by Ryanair’s hidden fees.