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From The Times

May 10, 2008

What does a low-cost airline offer if flights are not cheap

Sathnam Sanghera: Business Life

Last weekend I travelled to Italy for my godson's christening and had a fabulous time.

The baby cooed, sweetly, throughout the ceremony and looked fetching in a white dress. My mother, who had not visited the Continent before, enjoyed a number of new experiences, including mozzarella cheese and sparkling mineral water.

But by far the best thing about the trip was the Ryanair flight there and back.

If you've had to re-read that last sentence, I don't blame you. It's not a common sentiment. You hear, quite often, about Ryanair's meanness towards its passengers, in the form of arbitrary cancellations and spirit-crushing delays.

You hear, quite often, about the airline's crass adverts, whether it's using Carla Bruni's picture without permission or depicting young women in school uniforms above the headline: “The hottest back-to-school fares.”

And you hear all too often from Michael O'Leary, Ryanair's chief executive, a man whose predilection for naff publicity stunts makes advertisements starring Howard from the Halifax seem poised and dignified. But rarely do you hear anybody heaping praise on the airline.

And, actually, I'm not going to defy convention. My journey was in itself miserable. Not notably so, but then the airline would have to run you over with a Boeing 737-800 and leave you, half-dead, in baggage reclaim for a month before you could claim to have had a notably bad Ryanair experience.

But, for me, the entire trip, even the peculiar £4 in-flight ham and cheese sandwich that somehow tasted of coleslaw, was redeemed by the fact that it made me realise that Ryanair's days, and the days of budget air travel in general, are numbered.

There's a simple reason why this is so: budget air travel isn't cheap any more. My trip to an obscure part of Italy and back, booked three months in advance, cost €99.45 (£78.20). Hardly budget.

And you can see for yourself what is happening to prices by clicking on to one of the “cheap” fares advertised on the Ryanair website - such as the £5 ticket offered to Venice (Treviso) from London Stansted.

By the time you've picked flights that leave at sensible times on a weekend, added “tax and fees”, been charged something impenetrably labelled “insurance/wheelchair levy/aviation insurance”, been levied with a credit card charge of £3.20, and other fees for airport check-in, baggage check and priority boarding, you're paying £140 for a return flight. Frankly, you may as well travel with an airline that offers reclining seats for that kind of cash.

The increasingly oxymoronic nature of budget air travel in an era of high oil prices was highlighted this week by easyJet, which revealed that its first-half losses had more than tripled, after the price of jet fuel rose by 35 per cent during the past three months.

Andy Harrison, the airline's chief executive, remarked that fuel prices would force many carriers to “downsize and disappear”, but, of course, excluded easyJet from the possibility.

Ryanair, Europe's largest airline, which has raised baggage costs twice this year, has been similarly bullish about its own prospects, responding to the challenge of high fuel prices by launching a €400 million cost-cutting initiative and claiming that it still expects to increase the number of passengers it carries from 43 million to 80 million by 2012.

However, I find it hard to understand its confidence. First, there is the question of how a company that already considers a sick bag an extravagance can cut any more costs. What is it going to do? Make passengers sit on each other's laps? Ban staff from recharging their mobile phones? Actually, I think they may already do that.

Secondly, I don't see how a business that has made cheapness so central to its model can thrive in an era of high air fares, especially when people are beginning to see through its traditional strategies for concealing surreptitious fees.

Holiday Which? magazine reported recently that Ryanair was the worst airline when it came to hidden charges and the OFT currently is investigating the airline over claims that it has repeatedly misled customers on price and the availability of flights in its marketing material, after the Advertising Standards Authority upheld a ninth complaint against it in just two years.

Indeed, I think we have reached an important point in the history of air travel. People will, I think, look back at how little we paid to fly around Europe in the Nineties and Noughties, the mindlessness with which we burnt oil and emitted greenhouse gases, with the kind of bemusement we currently reserve for the Eighties mullet haircut.

But they will look back at the popularity of Ryanair with even more dismay.

Here's a company that offers almost no customer service, that makes it difficult to complain, that often requires passengers to get up at dawn to travel from an airport nowhere near their home to an airport nowhere near their destination.

A company that has the nerve to declare war against the Advertising Standards Authority (“It's about time someone stood up to them”), while at the same time lodging a complaint with the ASA about a competitor's advertising, a company that in an age of greater corporate social responsibility makes headlines for ordering six blind and three disabled people off an aircraft because they had not warned staff in advance (in 2005), for charging a British man who suffers from cerebral palsy £18 for using a wheelchair (in 2004) and for throwing the only black people on a flight to Stansted off a plane for “suspicious behaviour”, when they were in fact just members of a steel band returning from a music festival (earlier this year a court ordered Ryanair to pay the five £800 each in damages with another £190 each in costs).

It's difficult to imagine any other company getting away with such bizarre and bullying behaviour. The fact that they have done so probably comes down to the fact that its fares have been so cheap. But now that they cannot realistically continue being so, people's patience will expire. When you pay £1 for a ticket, you expect £1 service. But when you pay £140, you expect more.

sathnam@thetimes.co.uk

Air travel is a competitive business and you get what you pay for.
Desite the lies over the fares it's probably the only was to go. Just be thankful that fuel is not paid for in euro!

Tom W, Surrey,

Ryan air keeps my family together! We are spread around the UK, Belgium and Hungary. Without their cheap flights, we wouldn't be able to afford to meet up. I don't mind packing light to avoid some of the extra charges.

derek J A, Southampton, UK

i think most people commenting on here are forgetting just how expensive air travel was before the low cost airlines such as ryan air, easyjet and bmi baby came into being. i'd love the airlines to charge per weight of passangers, why should i pay the same as people who weigh twice as much as me.

martin, derby, uk

i think they will continue to do well, purely because everyone else will suffer from fuel price. ryan air may not be as cheap but still be the cheapest out of the lot. the other thing is i do not understand why they are so hated.. seriously now, is BA really much better??

Irena Zoga, oxford, uk

I've lost count of the number of times I've flown Ryanair, and have always been satisfied. Never a delay, prices reasonable. You really do get what you pay for, which is often very little. If anyone feels a Ryanair flight is too expensive, book with another carrier instead.

Steven, London,

Can anybody seriously criticise this airline? Why not concentrate on a universally admitted appalling transport operator, Virgin Trains?. Or indeed any other British train operator.
You do not "get what you pay for", but the more you pay the more you get. Ryaniar I have always found to be reliable,

John Wood, Uxbridge, UK

I've flown about 25 times with Ryan Air in the past 5 years. The flights have been on time the service has been fine and the flights uneventful and cheap. There is no way I can get back to the UK so cheaply and quickly from where I live.
The aircraft is an air bus, no more no less. No complaints.

Mick, Caunes Minervois, France

I agreed cheap flights. You get what you pay for. Ryanair are far
from cheap and the airport are far for the cities, is what makes me dislike
travelling with them. Sincerely, carlos norberto mugrabi.

Carlos Norberto Mugrabi, Buenos Aires , Argentina

Wow, a really good piece of writing, I for one really look forward to paying £600 which I did 14 years ago to SAS/British Midlands on a route which I now pay max £80 for on Ryan Air ....all charges included! In my experience the staff are friendly and helpful and can even provide sparkling water too

Edmund, Aarhus, Denmark

Yes, andy, london - as Libby Purves wrote in this newspaper two or three years ago "enjoy it while it lasts" - because it can't.

john from Mmilan, Milan, Italy

Ryanair are OK. They take you from where you are at to where you want to go. BA make you go via their hub at Heathrow. They should be renamed London Airways

Jim , Glasgow, Scotland

How soon we forget the rapacious fares of Aer Lingus and BA before Ryanair!!
"Too cheap" what pious sanctamonious waffle.
BTW climate is always changing regardless of the activity of humans, IPCC is a consensus not conclusion,the mob is not always right, remember Galileo!!!
"Ryanair go brágh

Gerard, Dublin, Ireland

lol guys, too many people giving out about ryanair but still fly with them. why oh why i wonder.

yamon, Cork, Ireland

I have no experience of budget airlines in Britain. However the Malaysian budget airline Asia Air out of Kuala Lumpur I can assure you are excellent. They run on time and the Asian staff were friendly and smiled. Baggage allowance was 15 kilos.

Jim Wills, Brisbane, Australia

Initially Ryanair had a clear proposition - don't pay much - don't expect much. Main carriers have now mobilised to become more competitive whilst still offering flights at decent times to main airports. The ryanair plan is monopoly of niche routes, they will survive just fine despite the service...

Adrian, Hitchin, UK

I am an AA Exec Platinum and use Ryanair a lot within Europe and find them excellent - price, time, routes, etc. Rarely a delay or problem.

Moran, Largs, UK

I regularly fly Ryanair, cheap, leaves nearly on time, and you don't pay for what you don't want. I would like Ryanair to charge by total weight of person and baggage.

katrina, london,

If you book early, buy no insurance,check-in on line and buy nothing on board you can often get excellent value in a company which carries over one million passengers every week in new Boeing jets.I have found them to be very reliable but I do not like their aircraft seats for longer journeys.

Edmond, Dublin, Ireland

I have flown Ryanair on a number of occasions and I have never found the staff rude or inefficient. Ryanir provides a very good service for the price and I for one am grateful that we have an airline like them. Some people want everything for nothing.

Gil, Bristol, England

What a delightful little piece. Bravo!

rob, melbourne, australia

Only a matter of time for these air cowboys. Oil at 200$. The writings on the wall.

vic, london, uk

Low-cost airlines also call themselves no-frills airlines, and that is exactly what you get; no frills, such as good manners, comfort, contrition or customer care and understanding.

John Terris, Perpignan, France

I have given up using Ryanair and use Eurostar instead. For the same price I do not have to get up at dawn or squash 2weeks' worth of clothes into a jiffy bag. Ryanair is for the childless hand luggage only brigade. If you are a family on holiday Ryanair completely ruins the joy of being away.

Sarah Hague, Montpellier, France

BA are so much better.

I have flown with Ryanair 3 times and each time been insulted and the cabin crew I wouldn't trust with my life. Down with Ryanair. I think overall it is the crew that make it an awful experience, they are so miserabe and downright rude.

trina, Bucks, UK

There are now many traditional airlines offering better service for less money. The only thing RYA is famous for is rude service and shoddy planes. Recently I flew Air France from Nice to Geneva. The ticket cost 30 gbp all fees included! And we all got a glass of champagne and a snack - for free!

Caroline, London,

Im sick of people giving out about ryanair. they charge you for bags because they dont want luggage on the planes. it costs them to pay baggage handlers and as any business why should they take the hit or pass it on to other customers because you cant pack lightly.

ciaran, Dublin, Ireland

Boyfriend and I have a long distance relationship - Dublin / London. Ryan Air's 8.45pm and 9.15pm flights Sun night out of Gatwick are delayed about 90%, and often the Fri 6.45pm and 7.15pm flights out of Dublin are delayed too - never any information or an apology, but without them, no relationship

Liza, London, UK

Agreed, cheap flights = you get what you pay for. But Ryanair are far from cheap and a bit of customer service will get you a long way. Their contempt for their customers is what makes me dislike travelling with them so much.

Laura, Nottingham, UK

Tips to save with Ryanair: pay with Visa Electron credit card (free of charge), pack light (ideally, hand luggage only), read very carefully the booking form (so you can avoid insurance, etc). Following these simple rules, I payed a return flght Charleroi - Milan 29.80 euro, all inclusive (July 2007

Giorgia, Italy,

I love Ryanair - cheap, excellent service, polite, punctual and no damage to the environment. This new medication is wonderful!

julia, london,

In the longer perspective, of course, with 6bn + people crowding this earth aspiring to UK/EU/US life styles, no fuel-based transport will be 'budget' - particularly air travel will return to the reserve of the rich - so enjoy it while it lasts! :)

andy, london,

They do make life very difficult- to take my guitar with me to Spain cost an extra £50- more than the flight itself and totally unexpected.

James , Amersham, Uk

It sounds as if Sathnam Sanghera is employed by BA or one of the other green with envy not so budget airlines.
I travel for my travel reports mostly with Ryanair. I never had a late departure and only one delayed landing due to sea fog in Norway. Of course eat and drink is not free by budget
Gari

Gari Garrett, Douglas, Isle of Man

http://www.ryanaircampaign.org/

Michael, Eire,

The best budget (low cost) European airline is Air Berlin who has their UK hub at Stansted. Ryanair is by frat the worst, although prices are sometimes reasonable. Neverthless, I agree with Manish Kumar, Philadelphia that the worlds worst airline is US Airways!!

Brian, Vienna, Austria

US airways provides the same service (or lack of) as Ryan Air but is neither a budget airline nor claims to be one.

Manish Kumar, Philadelphia, USA

On the 1st of April I flew from London Stansted to Arad (Romania) via Bergamo for 1.7p.Ticket were 1p and 1eurocent respectively. Used a VISA Electron to pay and avoided all other charges. The cheapest I had previously paid to get there was in excess of £200. Live long and prosper Michael O'Leary!

B Pretoro, Surrey, UK

Ryanair is truly awful and you are right that people will not put up with it unless prices are ridiculously cheap.

However the price quoted for the trip to Italy in the article is still relatively cheap compared to prices pior to the arrival of Ryanair. Cheap airline travel is not dead yet.

craig, Glasgow, UK

I gladly, NEVER fly with Ryanair. I was a student up until last year, so trust me, it wasnt out of affluence or anything of the like. But I really would sacrifice the extra money to travel with an airline that actually treats you like a human being.

Will, London,

Thanks to Ryanair I have now been able to retire early to France and regularly return to the UK to visit friends and relatives.
All these critics have very short memories and forget the cripplingly high prices that airlines charged before Ryanair and their like were operating.
LONG LIVE RYANAIR

frank o'file, Condom, Gascony, France

I agree with Bjorn. I live in Valencia travel every week to
London. Fares good on time, cost less than train travel in UK and 99% on time ,good for on time business meetings. BY the way there are about 20 others doing the same with at least three working for LU.

mike, Valencia, Spain

how can the writer come to the conclusion that budget airlines are numbered in their days becos of an incident. I fly from Cambdoaia to KLumpur and then to Sabah by Air Asia, every 2 months for about 2 years.Better than regular airline becos online booking etc.Budget airlines open up the world.

Yon Leenam, Sabah, Malaysia

"It's difficult to imagine any other company getting away with such bizarre and bullying behaviour."...

What about BA's bullying of passengers (distribution of misleading information regarding compensation rights) during the Terminal 5 "opening" in March....

Adrian, London, UK

Try getting a train from Newark to London for £78, and guarantee a seat.

Lindsayk, Southampton, UK

Check Ryanair, but compare Expedia, Opodo, etc. I find 7/10 times, flying on a regular airline is cheaper. Also only £3 to get to LHR, vs £16 to STN. I like flying an airline based in my destination - Iberia gets me in Latin mood before arrival in Madrid. Main airlines are price competitive today.

David, London,

Ryanair and EasyJey will survive, but like everything these days we have to realise just how much the costs have increased for these airlines .... remember they called themselves low cost ..not low price...so when the costs increase beyond their control then dont blame the higher price..

mike, london,

Budget airlines are facing very notable headwinds, especially from higher oil prices. Rightly pointed out that the only winning note- definitely not comfort- is the price; a diminishing advantage. On flip side Ryanair+Easyjet were savvy buying planes in '04/'05 when the aircraft market was softer.

Andy, London,

Adrian,

I have just spent 5 minutes on the Iberia website and found flights London to the a number of places in Spain for less than 200 EUR return including booking fees etc.

Rob, Madrid,

The author has forgotten quite how pricy flights were. I fly regularly to Sweden from Scotland. I often paid over £400, had to change in Amsterdam and it took hours. Now I can fly direct with Ryanair from Glasgow. Ryanair have opened up new routes and driven down prices. That will be their legacy.

Dave Macneish, Edinburgh, Scotland

Budget airlines do not have to be 'cheap' per se - they just have to be cheapER than the 'traditional' airlines.

I regularly fly EasyJet between the UK and the Czech Republic; I *still* pay less now for a family of four than I used to pay for one person return on British Airways!

Expat Dad, Roudnice, Czech Republic

God you are spoilt £78 return to Italy . Manchester to Malaga was £ 34 one way, and £134 back last year, and that was just one combination, plus taxes of course. I think I could have gone for £23 each way this year, but only after wading through 4 fare structures.

ged, manchester,

Show me ANY of the traditional airlines which will get you from the UK to Southern Europe for 140£ return....

Adrian, London, UK

Fuel costs are going to squeeze all airlines but Ryanair, Easyjet & co have openned up Europe for the ordinary traveller and forced the national airlines to rationalise and be more competitive. I have used Ryanair many times and never had a problem or need for a sick bag.
LONG LIVE BUDGET AIRLINES

Steve Marchant, Broadhempston, UK

Our last Ryanair flight to Cork cost 1 penny. Booked online, carry on baggage, priority boarding, late arrival at airport. Only gripe was the £1 charge for debit card...so £1.01 total cost. Wasn't it worth the early departure and lack of recliner...you bet it was. God save Ryanair and all the rest

David Williams, Derby, England

I have flown with Ryanair regularly for the last five years to Europe.yes admittedly unless you can fly mid week to mid week you will very unlikely pick up the cheap flights, but unlike B.A. Ryanair have done more for the working man than any other Airline

pauk kalli, woodford green, United kingdom

Thanks to Ryanair lots of low income family have enjoyed travels throughout Europe, and in Italy together with Ikea and other low cost firms in other sectors have helped people facing the inflation of the post-europe period; unfortunately growing oil prices will kill low cost
gabr, Rome

Gabry, roma, italy

I have flown Ryanair about 50 times; it's cheap, though there is a 1 in 40/50 risk that your plane will not turn up. That said, think back to the 1980s, when both British Airways and Scandinavian SAS both offered - purely by co-incidence - a London-Stockholm return for ... £405.; long live Ryanair

Raoul, Sutton,

I use Ryanair most weekends to commute within Europe where I do consultancy work during the week. For me Ryanair has opened up Europe and made this possible for me and many others. I only use online checkin and hand luggage and have never found cheaper tickets at any competitor. Long live Ryanair!

Bjorn, Europe,

Ryanair advertises itself as a low cost airline. That is its costs are low not its price to the consumer. It is not a low fare airline as I constantly found out in flying fom Birmingham to Dublin. Aer Lingus was more often cheaper.

Patrick, Taipei, Taiwan

It depends on the route:
Paris to Shannon (Ireland) with Ryanair in June (walk-on hand luggage up to 10 Kg) cost me 27.98 €uro all in.
Paris to Shannon (with CityJet) on same dates = 241.56 €uro.
(Flight leaving CDG at 8.40am)

The difference is too much, even if I have to go Beauvais. Vive Ryanair

Samuel Young, Paris, France

Great article. Flew with RyanAir to spain last week. Totally soul crushing experience from the hideous booking experience, hidden extras, late flights and worst of all - still can't believe this - in flight advertising over their announcement system the whole way through the flight... and for £110!!

Ewan, london, londond