BA's 'value calculator' goes after Ryanair, easyJet

If nothing else, British Airways certainly deserves credit for their latest attempt to fight back against its two main low-fare rivals, Ryanair and easyJet. The airline has launched a "value calculator" on its website, which illustrates the various "hidden" fees that have made the low-fare airlines famous. BA shows what Ryanair and easyJet charge for checking baggage and food and drink, among other costs, and then contrasts those with BA's "no extra charge" column. You can check off as many boxes as you wish, and the total at the bottom of the columns update "With British Airways," the website says, "the price you see is the price you pay."

BA has a point. Alison Hunt recently wrote an article where she researched a long weekend trip in Venice from London on BA and Ryanair. She notes that if "you were to fly with Ryanair (£157.06), check into the hold just one piece of luggage (£20 in fees, both ways) weighing 23kg (another £120 due to the expensive restrictions Ryanair places on heavy luggage), pay by non-VISA Electron debit card (£20) and spend £8 each on sandwiches and drinks on each flight (£32) you could be looking at a grand total of £349.06 - £64 more than BA. Eek!" £350 is a far cry from the base £9.99 fare that Ryanair advertises. In other words, if you were to take advantage on Ryanair of the little 'extras' that you didn't pay any additional money for on BA, your ticket would end up being more expensive.

But the popularity of Ryanair is due to its 'a-la-carte' pricing - if you don't want it, you don't have to pay for it. Assuming that you didn't check any bags or purchase any food or drink onboard, you'd still have to pay Ryanair's ridiculous online check-in fee of £5 and debit card charge of £10. But even with the £15 in fees, your new price of £172.06 would still be less than BA's £285. And Hunt assumes that you'll forget your boarding pass, which Ryanair charges £40 for doing. If you keep track of things, your cost will be even less.

The moral of the story - be careful when booking on low-fare carriers, because sometimes you might end up being charged for a lot of 'extras' that you didn't know about. But if you're smart about it, you can still end up saving a good deal of cash flying on Ryanair or easyJet versus on British Airways.

easyJet's in-flight weddings won't be taking off

photo courtesy easyJet

Those of you looking forward to getting married mid-air will have to wait; easyJet's request earlier this month to have its pilots be authorized to wed couples in flight was turned down. The Luton, UK-based low-cost airline, one of Europe's largest, claimed that it received many requests from couples seeking to tie the knot on board, and was aiming to be the first airline to offer in-flight weddings. But the Luton Borough Council axed the proposal, saying that "current law does not permit a civil marriage or civil partnership taking place on board an aircraft... But we would be happy to consider licensing easyJet's ground facilities at London Luton Airport.”

easyJet's Andrew McConnell was less than pleased with the outcome. "We are of course very disappointed by this news. It would appear that faceless bureaucrats in windowless offices have scuppered the dreams of many who wished to get married in the air."

EasyJet announces the 'ecoJet'

Amid much prodding of major airplane manufacturers to produce 'greener' planes, European budget airline easyJet has unveiled its design for an aircraft that it calls the 'ecoJet', an airplane that it says will be "25% quieter and would emit 50% less CO2 and 75% less NOx [nitrogen oxide] than today’s newest aircraft (the 737 and A320 families of aircraft)".

The design, which is made up of a variety of current technologies, should be implemented by easyJet by the year 2015. Carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions are projected to be cut in half by the design. It would be built probably by either Airbus or Boeing, and could, according to Andy Harrison, easyJet CEO, be built within eight years: "We are spending £4 billion on aircraft. They will listen to us."

He also said, “The aviation industry has an excellent record in reducing the environmental footprint of aircraft. Today’s aircraft are typically 70% cleaner and 75% quieter than their 1960s counterparts. Now we are planning the next generation that will help towards taking the plane out of the emissions equation. The aircraft example we have unveiled today represents the next major step forward in airframe and engine technology. The lightweight structure and open-rotor engines are based on technologies that are being developed right now by the major manufacturers. The “easyJet ecoJet” is realistic and it is achievable. If the “easyJet ecoJet” were to be made available today we would order hundreds them for fleet replacement and to achieve the ‘green growth’ that our industry has committed to."

The ecoJet makes sense from a marketing perspective for easyJet. Airlines, especially in Europe, have come under fire from politicians and environmental groups for contributing large amounts of greenhouse gases like CO2. And 'budget' airlines, like easyJet and Ryanair, have been singled out in particular, mostly because of their rapid expansion.

Leo Van Wijk, vice-chairman of Air France-KLM, has dismissed the airline industry's concern over global warming as "a load of BS". But it is important that airlines, airports and governments do everything they can do to reduce emissions. Airplane designs need to be more efficient; airports need to have less wait times, and air traffic control could be more efficient. That said, people ought to keep in mind that airlines only produce about 1.6% of global CO2 emissions.