Ryanair under fire for retrospective charging

Budget airline Ryanair has come under fire recently for taking thousands of pounds out of passengers’ bank accounts once they have returned home.

Travellers who took a flight on the no-frills airline from Barcelona or Madrid in July were hit with an excess charge of £7.20 per person after the Spanish government increased airport taxes. The infamous cheeky airline took retrospective charges from passengers’ bank accounts after the flights had took place.

According to consumer watchdog Which? the majority of airlines absorbed the cost of the airport tax hike and implied that Ryanair had breached its own terms and conditions. Which? claims that BA, easyJet, Flybe, Monarch, Jet2 and Thomson had taken the costs on themselves rather than charge passengers excess fees.

Whilst Ryanair is permitted to pass on additional taxes to passengers after the booking, these are typically paid prior to departure. Which? found that some of the passengers, including members of their research team, had been hit with these excess charges after they had returned home.

A spokesman from the cheap carrier said the airline was “obliged to collect taxes and charges and pass them to the Spanish government on behalf of passengers.” This is not the first time that Ryanair has caused passengers a financial headache, as the airline is notorious for bumping up fees and charges for those paying by credit card.

A recent advert offering cheap flights to Malmo was labelled as misleading by the Advertising Standards Agency. This is because the promotion claimed that passengers could fly to the Swedish city for just £14.99 one way. However, the £6 admin fee, which passengers would be charged when using a credit or debit card, was not included in the national newspaper advert. Travel insurance can give you peace of mind while you’re on holiday, and protect you from financial losses should you have an accident or be the victim of crime.

Date Created: 24/09/2012