24th July 2009

Ryanair Court Case   July 2009    

A court case in Germany could change the way Ryanair charges its customers for paying with credit and debit cards . Ryanair's practice of charging passengers extra for using credit and debit cards could be challenged following a recent court case in Germany during which the  No Frills Airline lost last month over the charges it imposes on customers booking online.

The case, which has not been reported in Britain, came about following a complaint by the Federation of German Consumer Organisations over the imposition of an €8 (£7) charge per person per return flight when payment is made by credit or debit card. In Britain the charge is £10 per person per return flight.

Berlin's Superior Court of Justice, citing a European Union directive, deemed that the charge was "inadmissible" unless the airline also offered a charge-free method of payment.

Ryanair says that passengers can pay without incurring the extra charge by using Visa Electron cards. The airline described the Berlin court ruling as "crazy" and said it would appeal.

Earlier this year Ryanair was referred by the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) to the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) over the airline's "unwillingness and apparent inability to comply with rules on misleading advertising over the past two years".

The airline has been the subject of 15 ASA adjudications since December 2004, while six further complaints have been resolved informally. Ryanair was condemned as "irresponsible" in January for using a photograph of a model dressed as a schoolgirl to advertise its "hottest" fares.

This week, following talks with OFT officials, Ryanair made several changes to its website, giving more prominence to information about the airline's "optional" charges, which are not included in its headline fares.

The Dublin-based carrier currently charges £30 to check in one item of luggage, £10 per person to pay for a return flight using a debit or credit card, £60 to travel with sport or music equipment and £15 per kilo for excess baggage.

Additional charges and booking fees are expected to earn the airline at least £650 million this year.

"Budget airlines' extra charges have been an issue for some time," said Mr Evans. "It will be interesting to see whether this court case has an impact on Ryanair's practices in the UK."