Speaking at yesterday's Barclays Travel Forum, Savage said: ‘There is a reliance among airlines to make money on ancillary products.
‘That is fine is you are offering benefits, but how far can you go down this route when you are effectively introducing penalty charges?’
Savage singled out Ryanair as an ‘extreme’ case. Ryanair already charges for airport check-in, and is looking at introducing other charges, such as for the use of toilets.
Monarch introduced baggage charges at the end of last winter, but Savage said the airline had reluctantly done so.
‘We didn’t want to go there, but with so much of the pricing decision being made on the first page of a web site, headline price is becoming king.’
She did acknowledge that Ryanair’s ‘extremism’ is helping the sector because ‘customers are getting more savvy about what is included’, and she welcomed regulations on how pricing can be displayed.
However, she said: ‘My personal worry is that authorities will end up regulating to cope with Ryanair’s extremism.’
More from the Barclays Travel Forum:
Uncertainty over year ahead (18/06/2009)
Barclays sees ‘green roots’, not ‘green shoots’... (18/06/2009)
And see also:
Ryanair proceeds with online check-in plan (13/05/2009)
Monarch reports early booking trend (19/11/2008)