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Frustrated travellers shun airlines for coach travel...
 By
Trevor O’Sullivan
A growing number of Irish people travelling to Britain are opting to
take the coach rather than fly.
Bus Éireann claims they are benefiting from the fact that customers’
patience is being worn thin by a multitude of excessive charges when flying.
These range from fees on baggage to surcharges on priority booking often
associated with low-cost air travel.
New figures released by the Irish travel company show a 15 per cent increase
in its Eurolines business, which provides a service from Ireland to British
and other European cities.
The company predicts Eurolines will bring in €2.5million in revenue this
year and estimates passenger numbers will reach 120,000.
A spokesperson said: “We are seeing a lot of recent passenger growth
on Eurolines, our cross-channel coach business.
“Although we remain a small player in comparison with the airlines,
the business is experiencing a noticeable revival and this summer we have
been putting on additional coaches to meet demand.
“Our cross-channel services have been in decline for the last decade
mainly due to increased airline competition in the market
but the situation is now turning around.”
The Eurolines service runs to London, Birmingham, Coventry, Liverpool,
Manchester and Leeds.
It departs from Dublin and Cork via Holyhead and Fishguard in Wales.
And the company has attributed the resurgence in demand to a number of
factors but chiefly a perceptible increase in air fares.
The spokesperson added: “Air fares have crept upwards in the last
12 months and we would appear to be benefiting from that.
“More people are also starting to factor in the additional costs
of flying getting to out of town airports, baggage charges, taxes
and in some cases fuel levies.
“These extras all add up and people are looking for cheaper alternatives.”
The era of the £1 flight ended last week when competition watchdogs
rapped airlines for slapping on hidden extras to their advertised prices.
A total of 13 leading air carriers now have to end the practice of posting
cheap flights on their websites before charging passengers more in hefty
add-on fees.
Extras now have to be highlighted before customers have pressed the pay
button on their screens rather than after they have made the booking.
The Irish Post contacted Ryanair, Ireland’s leading low-cost airline,
in relation to this latest trend and the company maintains it has not
been affected.
A spokesperson said: “Our growth has seen us rise from a profit
of £42million to £50million. That is a growth of 20 per cent.
“In Dublin we are adding an additional 1million passengers bringing
the total passengers we cater for there up to 10million.” |
