Holds barred as Ryanair hopes to charge €75 for check-in baggage

NOT an airline renowned for lavishing luxury on its customers, passengers on Ryanair will soon be unable to recline in their seats and may be charged for checking luggage into the hold.

Ryanair chief executive Micheal O'Leary said the airline is looking at a number of ways to cut costs and reduce the price of flights even further.

Speaking in London, Mr O'Leary said the easier moves to cuts costs such as internet bookings and operating from secondary and regional airports had already been exploited.

"Now we must be cleverer," he said.

As part of its first swathe of cost-cutting measures, 14 of its 100-strong fleet have been fitted with non-reclining seats made of leather.

It costs the company €2.5 million a year to repair damaged reclining seats.

According to a spokesperson for Ryanair, the airline asked 20,000 customers if they would prefer the person in front of them to be unable to recline their seat.

A resounding 94% said Yes, according to Ryanair. The fixed seats will be installed in the rest of the fleet over the next couple of years.

The company also spends millions cleaning headrest cloths, providing another saving once all the leather seats are installed.

In the meantime, the company has arranged sponsorship for the hygiene cloths.

Also under consideration is the controversial move to charge people for any luggage stored in the plane's hold and to reward customers who only bring hand-luggage.

"The objective is to get rid of hold baggage altogether," Mr O'Leary is quoted as saying in the

Financial Times, with passengers being restricted to travelling with carry-on baggage only.

Within two to three years, the airline could cut its airport costs by a third, or €75m.

In theory, Ryanair could charge €75 for the first suitcase, €150 for the second and €7,500 for the third, Mr O'Leary told the FT. However, a company spokesperson said: "Mr O'Leary was only vocalising" how Ryanair might cut costs so as to pass on lower fares to passengers.

He said a better example of baggage charges was €5 for the first bag, €10 for the second and €39 for the third.

Mr O'Leary acknowledged it would take time to persuade passengers to reduce their luggage requirements but said the airline had already taken a step in this direction by raising the cabin baggage allowance from seven to 10kgs and by raising excess baggage charges.

He is also pressing ahead with plans to introduce paid-for in-flight entertainment on seat backs for next year's summer season, including cartoons sitcoms, sports footage and films.

Ryanair also announced its biggest discounted seat promotion with one million seats selling at 99p, excluding taxes and charges, for the coming winter season.

The discount flights are available on 149 routes across 16 European countries on www.ryanair.com.

The sale began at midnight last night and ends midnight Thursday, July 15. The sale applies to travel between September 7, 2004, and January 31, 2005.