Ryanair embark on cost-cutting spree
By Jon Myles
PASSENGERS flying on no-frills airline Ryanair are set to see their meagre luxuries cut back even more.
The carrier that pioneered low-cost travel between Britain and Ireland by paring extras to the bone is now set to go even further in a bid to keep its profits sky-high.
The airline has ordered a new fleet of stripped-down planes devoid of reclining seats, window blinds, headrests, seat pockets and other facilities termed non-essential.
Airline chief executive Michael O’Leary is also hoping to encourage passengers to travel a lot lighter — cutting down on storage space and weight and ultimately saving on handling charges.
He says cutting out reclining seats will save around £1.6million each year for Ryanair.
Removing window blinds from planes on order will deliver a further saving of about £180,000 for each plane while ditching seat pockets will reduce cleaning costs and shorten the time in which planes stand on the ground before taking off again.
The airline will also save a further £130,000 by removing Velcro headrests.
Mr O’Leary hopes to generate further revenue by replacing them with rests paid for by advertisers.
But the biggest savings could be generated by banning baggage.
Ryanair hopes to steer passengers away from checked-in luggage — eliminating the need for baggage handling, suitcase holding areas and lost property.
Mr O’Leary said: “Most of the space in airports is devoted to baggage handling.
“It’s not just a question of staff. It would mean smaller airports, simpler facilities and lower charges.
“It could deliver savings of up to 20 per cent for the airline.”
The move comes less than two weeks after Ryanair warned its profits were facing a downturn in growth due to falling capacity loads on its routes. Analysts said the warning signalled an end to the airline’s recent spectacular expansion.
But airline industry experts said the latest moves by Ryanair could be another pioneering move in the battle between competing low-cost carriers — and herald a new era for passengers.
“This will cut a significant portion of Ryanair’s fixed costs with little change to the service the customer receives,” said one.
“If you are paying £20 or less for a 45-minute flight you are not going to be too concerned about reclining seats or headrests and yet it will enable the airline to keep prices down.
“If they can also divert people away from luggage check-in they will be making a huge saving. It seems that once again Ryanair are way ahead of the game on this one. If they manage to push everything through you can see all the other low-cost carriers following their example in the near future — but Ryanair will have done it first and so have the cost advantages sooner and be able to have the competitive prices well in advance.
“All in all, it’s very, very clever.”
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