Ryanair’s CEO Michael O’Leary says the carrier is in talks with Boeing about designing aircraft with standing room, allowing it to squeeze more passenger onboard flights.
Any such move would need approval from aviation authorities, although Chinese carrier Spring Airlines also recently announced it was exploring the possibility. The idea would see standing passengers strapped to stools during take off and landing, allowing Ryanair to fly up to 50 per cent more travellers per flight.
It’s just one of a raft of “announcements” by the low-cost carrier, including the possibility of charging travellers to use the toilet in-flight. One cost cutting measure that is definitely going ahead though is that of the removal of airport check-in desks (see online news May 13).
Ryanair also released a statement today saying that it is now “twice the size of British Airways”, having flown 5.8 million passengers in June, compared to BA’s 2.9 million travellers over the same period, although this does not take into account the length of flights flown or revenue earned per passenger.
For more information visit ryanair.com.
Report by Mark Caswell