News: BA cheaper than Ryanair on some flights
Flights > News > # 2227 (11/08/2009)
An investigation by The Sunday Times has found that no-frills airlines such as Ryanair and Easyjet are now more expensive on some short-haul routes than British Airways.
A survey of flights to popular European destinations identified ten on which it is more expensive to fly with Ryanair than British Airways, because BA includes as standard many of the services for which the low-cost airline charges extra.
In three cases BA flights were cheaper outright. In the seven others extra fees, such as charges for checking in a bag or processing payments, made Ryanair’s prices up to 50% higher if a passenger chose those services. Easyjet was more expensive than BA on four of the journeys.
While for most routes no-frills airlines remain the cheaper option, the survey suggests full-service airlines are beginning to fight back. Budget airlines now have so many extra charges for basic services that they can add up to far more than the advertised ticket price.
A passenger checking in 20kg of luggage for a return flight with Ryanair, paying for priority boarding and buying a snack and drink would pay an extra £194. Easyjet, by contrast, provides the same services for an extra £31, while British Airways includes the cost of checking in a 23kg bag, reserving seats, debit-card booking and snacks and refreshments.
The Sunday Times compared prices for return flights by seeking the lowest fare available on the day of travel and then adding the basic cost of checking in 15kg of baggage and priority boarding so that families could sit together.
James Fremantle, industry affairs manager of the Air Transport Users Council, told The Sunday Times: “Overall, if you look at the fares, low-cost airlines are still the cheaper option. However, many of these extras seem arbitrary charges not related to the cost of the service.”
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