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Ryanair to charge for £1 for using plane toilet
Tuesday, 6 April 2010
enlargeRyanair is to press ahead with plans to ask customers to spend £1 before they spend a penny.
The airline is working with aircraft manufacturer Boeing to develop a coin-operated door release system so it can charge customers to use the toilet on short-haul flights lasting less than an hour.
The company plans to charge passengers who travel on flights of one hour or less €1 (87p) or £1 to use the toilet.
Ryanair says it will actively “encourage passengers to use toilet facilities in airport terminals before boarding”.
The move comes despite the company appearing to backtrack on comments from chief executive Michael O'Leary last year where he announced he was looking at fitting coin slots to toilet doors to raise revenue.
But the current edition of the airline's inflight publication, Ryanair Magazine, outlines details of the plan and says it is working with Boeing to develop a system. If Ryanair were to pursue the toilet charge it would have to fit coin slots on to its fleet of 168 Boeing 737-800s.
According to the magazine, the airline is currently “developing the cost-saving option in order to reduce fares, increase efficiencies and reduce costs.”
The company says it hopes it can change passenger behaviour so that Ryanair can remove two of the three toilets on board some aircraft, so up to six additional seats can be installed.
The Irish Aviation Authority (IAA) said it was not aware of any restrictions that would prevent the move.
But it added: “The removal of toilets to make room for additional seats is a matter for the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) as the type of aircraft used by Ryanair is certified by EASA for 189 seats.” Ryanair said: “The move is not a priority at the moment but we are still looking at it.”
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Comments
32 Comments
This can't make fares go down. At a pound a use it'll take a long time to pay off the costs of engineering and obtaining the regulatory approval that is required to put anything on an aircraft.
Posted by CF | 10.04.10, 23:46 GMT
Some times engineers and ownership appear confused from a mechanics point of view. Each and every door hinge and lock must comply with JAR. When a door or lock gets jammed or broken on a one hour flight it must be changed quickly, at turn over, so profit can exceed labor cost when changing the door. The hinge is the key, as well is the behavior of the passengers. The hinge needs to be engineered so the mechanic can change the whole door quickly rather than fixing the lock. Of course there is always the alternative from where a passenger sits.
Posted by Robert David Wright | 08.04.10, 03:01 GMT
was this posted on 1st april!
Posted by John | 06.04.10, 23:29 GMT
Ahhh...the wonderful aroma of free publicity. When will the media learn?
Posted by WH | 06.04.10, 21:34 GMT
It's a joke! They do it every few months to get publicity so people will talk about them.
This has to be about the 5th time I've read this in the last year. Ryanair have admitted themselves it's a joke at a press conference in Germany last march.
Posted by lolmaster | 06.04.10, 16:42 GMT
At the time this idea of paying to use the toilet was mooted Ryanair also said anyone deciding to ignore the fee, and who decided to pee where they sat, would face a fine of €100.
I have yet to see anyone get up to pee on a flight from Belfast to Luton or Belfast to Liverpool and I've flown those routes many times.
When push comes to shove still a majority of people will opt to fly with them despite this new charge. Once again O'Leery has demonstrated that there's no such thing as bad publicity.
Posted by Wesley | 06.04.10, 16:30 GMT
How many people are going to use the toilet on a one hour flight? 10%?
So why don't they just add 10p to the cost of each ticket and leave things the way they are?
Posted by toadstool | 06.04.10, 15:22 GMT
As "DC" said, this is all a ruse for free publicity. Apart from anything else, the cost in fuel to carry the extra weight of the coin mechanism would far outweigh any small profit made.
Also, while I am still on my soap box, is it really so hard to spell a seven letter word? I think most people should be able to manage "Ryanair"!
Posted by Centaur | 06.04.10, 14:19 GMT
Has this one been thought through ? Who is going to buy Ryanair high priced beer, etc. then pay extra to get rid of the by-product? Also, after a few little"accidents" they may think again.
However, I will continue to fly Ryanair in spite of M. O'L's daft idea and have a pee before I board the aircraft. Ryanair get me to where I want to be, usually on time, and at an affordable cost. No problem. I have no complaints.
Posted by Terence | 06.04.10, 13:57 GMT
Good idea! keeps the fares down!
Posted by Alex | 06.04.10, 13:53 GMT
Having travelled on Ryan Air before, I think paying an extra pound could be considered as excellent value, when you take into account the extra leg room. hot and cold running water, not to mention the gain in privacy! Ideal on the short flights as a mini exec lounge for phone calls and PC work I think?
Posted by Paul Glover | 06.04.10, 13:52 GMT
This is inflation gone mad. Whatever happened to "spending a penny"?
Posted by Stuart | 06.04.10, 13:10 GMT
Can we look at the alternatives-if you need to pay to go to the loo and dont have any cash on you-do you go on your seat in the aisle? Could they actually cause themselves a cleaning issue as they cannot make someone pay and if you have to go you have to go!
Posted by ashlene999 | 06.04.10, 13:00 GMT
What a brilliant idea - just one pound to have a seat with acres of leg room, no one josting for the use of the arm rest, and shelter from screaming brats.
I'll know where I'll be spending my next flight - after all, I'll have paid for it!!
Posted by StephenM | 06.04.10, 13:00 GMT
This has to be illegal....businesses cannot charge you for exercising a natural and vital bodily function. Next thing they Ryanair charge you for breathing the cabin air....O'Leary should put a bung in it.....or wait to be sued....
Posted by Bung'd Up | 06.04.10, 12:38 GMT
"if you dont like it pay £50 extra and fly with BA ."
And pray they're not on strike!
Stephen
Posted by Stephen | 06.04.10, 12:31 GMT
This proposal will fail on safety grounds.
As far as I undertand this proposal - may contravene laws where the public have to be provided with toilet facilities. All restaurants in Britain have to provide toilet facilities. As far as I known when drink is being sold then a condition of the Liquor license is the provision of a toilet. P.S. The date of this article is 6th April 2010 and not 1st April 2010. If passengers are forced to urinate or worse on the cabin floor this will render the plane almost immediately unflyable. The risk of water ingressing the electrical control system will be near 100%. This proposal will fail on safety grounds.
Posted by Barry the Baptist | 06.04.10, 12:23 GMT
what are you all moaning about, their cheap cheap cheap so whats a pound to the endless pounds you save flying with themm. O Leary is a financial genius and a straight talker unlike our babbon-like politicians
Posted by Jim Will Fix It | 06.04.10, 11:46 GMT
if you dont like it pay £50 extra and fly with BA .
Posted by Gary | 06.04.10, 11:25 GMT
If this is a profit driven idea , surely they would be better using remote control pilots and guide all their aircraft from the ground !
Think of the savings they could make in wages and overnight accommodation !
Posted by Jack | 06.04.10, 11:24 GMT
32 Comments