ADDITIONAL FEES ON FLIGHTS INCREASINGLY COMMON

Checked baggage, set reservation, meals. Many airline costs are now extra and bring the companies significant additional revenue. A study showed which airlines earn extra money in addition to the ticket business. In the search for additional sources of revenue, airlines are becoming more inventive. This has emerged from a study of the consulting firm Ideaworks.

The 73 airlines surveyed worldwide together achieved an extra turnover of 47.2 billion dollars (40.4 billion euros) in addition to the sale of tickets. That is one tenth of their total revenue.

In addition to the major North American companies, the Europeans Ryanair, Air France, Lufthansa or EasyJet are among the top 10 in the world for additional fees according to the study. Especially with regards to baggage checking.

This also applies to the largest European budget airline Ryanair. From November 1 you can only take a small bag on board the company’s plane for free. Before that, it was possible to also take a wheeled suitcase. The trolley now costs 8 euro to charge or you book for 2 euros less “priority boarding” and may bring two pieces of luggage in the cabin as before.

Ryanair has declined in terms of baggage charges in the past years, but at the same time revenues from seat reservations, rental cars and rooms have increased. Even without its own frequent flyer program, the company had increased its additional fees income by 13% to 2.02 billion euros, the study reports on behalf of the mobility service provider CarTrawler. That was 28.2% of total revenues. Competitor EasyJet makes 19.5% of revenue with additional income. Meanwhile Lufthansa Group comes to just under 6%.

According to Ryanair, the company expects no additional revenue due to new baggage charges. “We have seen in recent weeks that many people now instead of suitcases for 25 euros book those for 8 or 10 euros,” said marketing chief Kwenny Jacobs. The reason for the new fees is not to take more money, but to avoid delays.

The fact that cabin trolleys are now increasingly being handed over at the check-in counter and not at the gate as before makes Ryanair flights more punctual. Previously, the flood of small trolleys at the gate cost the airline twelve minutes or more per flight.