Posted on March 31, 2011 by Fiona Hilliard

New Charges: Ryanair

Paying to pee, standing seats, exorbitant baggage hikes – at this stage we’d thought we’d heard it all from the boys and girls in blue and yellow.

So should we be surprised by the news that Ryanair is introducing ANOTHER extra charge…?

This week the no-frills airline announced that it is slapping a £2 (€2) levy on fares to cover the costs of paying out compensation when flights are cancelled.

It is the latest in a series of recent measures undertaken by Ryanair to pressure the EU Commission into changing the current EU261 regulation. 

Presently, passengers whose flights are cancelled or significantly delayed are entitled to demand the reimbursement of a selection of costs including food and accommodation under regulation EU261.

Ryanair is calling for airlines to be able to forsake any obligation to pay compensation when events take place outside of their control.

This would apply to weather emergencies and strikes by outside companies affecting flights.

The airlines said ruling EU261 had cost more than £88 million last year, when it was forced to cancel 15,000 flights, disrupting the journeys of 2.4 million passengers.

The airline argues that in many cases, the amount of compensation was much higher than the original cost of the plane ticket.

Interestingly, no other airlines affected by extreme weather or industrial action have yet  introduced a similar levy.  Nor do they plan to do so.

Flybe, a no frills airline argues that Ryanair is using the new charge as a “thinly diguised fuel levy”, while easyJet said it will not be introducing a similar surcharge.

Commenting a spokesperson for easyJet said:

“EU 261 places an unfair burden on airlines and easyJet would like to see it reformed. However, easyJet has no plans to follow Ryanair in applying the charge on our passengers.”