Ryanair, Europe’s No. 1 airline, has reported that Q3 (FY2017) profits fell 8% to €95m (US$101m), prompting CEO Michael O’Leary and Finance Director Neil Sorahan to consider reviewing their carry-on bag allowance once again.

 

Ryanair has told TRBusiness that the airline has noticed that passengers are bringing ‘larger than permitted bags onboard’, which can cause delays, and the policy – currently permitting two free carry-on bags – ‘may be reviewed should this practice continue.’

 

On 6 February Sorahan spoke to BBC Radio 5 Live about the company’s results and mentioned that the airline had been a ‘victim of its own niceness’ in relation to the policy it introduced in 2015 [stretching the allowance to two free carry-on bags].

 

Passengers and the duty free industry positively received the amendment back in 2015, which meant that passengers could thereafter bring their airport shopping onboard as part of their new allowance.

 

However, Sorahan said earlier this week that passengers have been ‘abusing’ the policy and taking on board bags ‘up to three times the permissible size’.

 

“Customers are permitted to bring a standard cabin bag and a smaller bag onboard,” Ryanair confirmed to TRBusiness.

 

“We’ve noticed some customers are bringing larger than permitted bags onboard, which can cause delays, and the policy may be reviewed should this practice continue.”

 

Back in November 2016 at the Meadfa conference in Dubai, ETRC President Sarah Branquinho vehemently pleaded with airports to address the problem of carry-on restrictions in their agreements with air carriers.

 

“Things are getting confused between airlines driving ancillary revenue and common sense. And of course there’s a lot of confusion for travellers because, depending on each airline you fly with or even on which route, the instructions dictating what to do with carry-on baggage can be very different. We’re looking to create legislation in the European Union, which will allow passengers to bring their shopping onboard.”

 

ONBOARD SALES DRIVE RYANAIR’S ANCILLARY REVENUE

Interestingly, although total profits fell 8%, Ryanair’s ancillary revenues, which comprise non-flight scheduled operations, inflight sales and Internet-related services increased +15% to €394.5m (US$421.4M) in the third quarter of FY2017.

 

This was said to be driven by a ‘solid performance’ in reserved seating, priority boarding, onboard sales and car hire offset by lower travel insurance and hotels penetration.

 

“As previously guided, our fares this winter have fallen sharply as Ryanair continues to grow traffic and load factors strongly in many European markets,” said Michael O’Leary in a statement accompanying the Q3 results.

 

“These falling yields were exacerbated by the sharp decline in Sterling following the Brexit vote. Ryanair responded to this weaker environment by continuing to improve our “Always Getting Better” (AGB) customer experience, cutting costs, and stimulating demand through lower fares which has seen load factors jump to record levels.”

 

Ancillary revenues in the nine-month up to 31 December 2016 reached €1,283.4m, +12%.

 

INFLIGHT SALES UP 19.8% TO $163.8M

Ryanair did not provide a breakdown of its inflight sales revenues for quarterly reports, but did release FY2016 figures last year.

 

TRBusiness can reveal that revenue from inflight sales – including sales of beverages, food and merchandise – increased 19.8%, to €153.4m (US$163.8M) in the 2016 fiscal year, up from €128.1m in the 2015 fiscal year.

 

However, revenues from Internet-related services, primarily commissions received from products sold on Ryanair.com or linked websites, decreased 15.4%, from €101.2m in the 2015 fiscal year to €85.6 million in the 2016 fiscal year.