Ryanair has extended its paid-for reserved seating trial to 80 routes, and says it will “extend it to more routes in our network” if successful.
The carrier launched the trial earlier this year on flights from Dublin to Gatwick and Malaga (see online news April 19), and has since extended the offering to other routes inclduing 11 flights from Milan Bergamo (including London Stansted and Dublin), and 12 routes from Brussels Charleroi (including Dublin).
Passengers can pre-book the service for €10 each way, allowing them to reserve seats either in the front two rows, or in the over-wing emergency exit for greater legroom.
The news comes as Ryanair announced a 20 per cent rise in half-year profits to €544 million. Traffic grew 12 per cent over the period, with average fares up 13 per cent, and fuel costs up 37 per cent.
Initiatives including the reserved seat trial and the launch of the Ryanair “Cash Passport” (see online news September 15) led to a 15 per cent rise in ancillary revenues to €487 million.
However capacity cuts mean traffic is set to fall in the second half of this year, with Ryanair expecting to announce this month “a traffic decline of 10 per cent or almost 500,000 passengers as we ground up to 80 aircraft due to higher oil prices”. Full year net profit guidance has been raised 10 per cent to €440 million.
For more information visit ryanair.com.
Report by Mark Caswell
