Ryanair to scrap 'Prime' subscription as programme 'costs more money than it generates'

55,000 customers had signed up to the service since March

Ryanair CMO Dara Brady said the level of Prime memberships or subscription revenue 'did not justify the time and effort it takes to launch monthly exclusive Prime seat sales for our 55,000 Prime members.' Picture: Brian Lougheed

Ryanair announced on Friday it will close its Prime membership offering after confirming the programme "cost more money than it generates".

Prime launched as a subscription service in March on a first-come first-served basis targeting 250,000 customers but the airline only received 55,000 take-up over the period. Prime was aimed at frequent flyers, costing €79 a year and giving members benefits such as reserved seats at no additional cost, travel insurance, and access to 12 annual member-exclusive seat sales occur once a month.

On Friday, the airline announced it will end Prime membership after an eight-month trial period. 

At its launch, Ryanair said Prime could generate €19.75m in additional revenue in a year if it sold out the initial 250,000 subscription offering. Since then, Prime membership programme generated €4.4m for the airline but the discounts received by members in fare discounts cost over €6m, so "this trial has cost more money than it generates", Ryanair chief marketing officer Dara Brady said.

"This level of memberships, or subscription revenue does not justify the time and effort it takes to launch monthly exclusive Prime seat sales for our 55,000 Prime members," said Mr Brady. "We are grateful to our 55,000 Prime members who signed up to this Prime trial over the last eight months, and they can rest assured that they will continue to enjoy exclusive flight and seat savings for the remainder of their 12-month membership."

Existing Prime members will continue to receive the monthly member low fare deals until October 2026, but no new members will be allowed to sign up after November 28.

“Over the years, customers have asked for a Ryanair members scheme, so we trialled this ‘Prime’ scheme over the last eight months. To date, we have signed up over 55,000 Prime members.

"With over 207m passengers this year, Ryanair will continue to focus on delivering the lowest fares in Europe to all our customers, and not this subset of 55,000 Prime members.” 

At launch in March, Ryanair said that “Prime” members who fly 12 times per year would save up to €420. To achieve this number, Ryanair said customers would save €120 on the reserved seating — €10 each over 12 flights — €180 on travel insurance, and €120 through the seat sales.

Mr Brady said Prime members who flew just three times a year would save the cost of the subscription.