Ryanair refutes watchdog comments

Ryanair today rejected comments by the head of Britain's business watchdog the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) as "disappointing and wrong".

In an interview with the Independent, John Fingleton, chief executive of the OFT, attacked the company for fees that could be added when customers pay online.

He singled out the practice of levying fees by adding charges to payments made with a specific type of bank card.

And he also questioned the automatic addition of insurance to flights by airlines such as Ryanair, unless customers opted out.

Today the low-fares airline said in a statement that there were " no hidden fees or charges" on its website and that all "non-discretionary fees and charges" were included in its advertised prices.

"Ryanair fails to understand why it was singled out for these inaccurate criticisms by Mr Fingleton, when its charges policies are copied by high fare UK airlines," the airline said.