Ryanair compared with Belarus because of the limitations of passengers
- 4.05.2012, 15:14
Are budget airlines’ rules about carry-on bags comparable to human rights abuses in Belarus?
Some passengers feel abused by no-frills carriers and the increasing number of charges they tag on. But this time it was Michael O’Leary, chief executive if Irish low-fare carrier Ryanair Holdings PLC, who was in a state of high dudgeon, over a European Parliamentary committee’s initial reaction to airlines’ unpopular “one-bag” policy. The body used the same word as EP President Martin Schulz earlier used to slam kangaroo-court judgments in the ex-Soviet republic.
The word: “deplores”. A draft report by the EP’s transport committee from December used the verb to express its view of how the one-bag policy has hurt airport retail sales.
Ryanair and some other airlines limit passengers to a single carry-on bag. Anything else, including purses, computers and airport purchases, must go into the sole, precisely sized bag. Violators must pay up to £50.
The parliamentary report attacks the policy as hurting airports and passengers. The December draft said the body “deplores the fact that [the one-bag policy] threatens the viability of retail sales as a source of airport revenue for regional airports that have negotiated competitive landing charges to attract airlines…”
Never mind that by early April, a new draft had dropped the word. On April 19, Mr. O’Leary fired off a letter to Mr. Schulz excoriating its use.
Mr. O’Leary also took the rest of the report to task, arguing that Ryanair’s carry-on limit is part of its broader baggage policy. The airline’s approach has “increased consumer choice, resulted in less emissions and improved punctuality for passengers, with the resulting cost saving being passed on to consumers through lower fares,” Mr. O’Leary said in the letter, a copy of which was reviewed by The Wall Street Journal.