Ryanair intends to keep raising the fee for hold luggage to discourage passengers from checking in bags on its flights.
The no-frills carrier has increased the fee it charges for hold bags by £20 for this summer, according to chief executive Michael O’Leary, who added that that the tactic of raising the price would continue until “we get rid of bags”.
O'Leary said that since introducing charges for hold bags, the number of passengers checking them in had fallen from 80 per cent to 19 per cent.
Although O’Leary admitted they were not likely to be able to stop all passengers from checking in bags.
“I would be disappointed if we don’t get our figure down from around 20 per cent to 10 per cent,” he added.
He also suggested that more airlines would start charging for cabin bags and follow the lead of Wizz Air which began charging for larger cabin bags in 2012.
“In the future I think it’s likely that airlines will charge for carry-on bags,” added O’Leary. “But I can’t get my head round how you would do it. I think it’s unlikely that we will do it, until I can see what’s in it for us.”
O’Leary’s comments came two days after the airline admitted it was flying its aircraft more slowly in a bid to reduce the amount of fuel it uses.