‘Business Plus’ ticketholders at Gatwick will be able to access a 'FastTrack' security lane from February 2. The service is currently available at selected airports, including Stansted, Manchester and Dublin, and will be extended to Rome Ciampino from March 2 and Eindhoven in the Netherlands from April 1. The service will be introduced at more airports soon, the airline has said.
Ryanair’s ‘Business Plus’ tickets, which were introduced last year, offer travellers more flexibility, including the ability to change to another flight on the same day or to any airport in the same destination country, up to 40 minutes before departure for no extra fee. The airline normally charges as much as £90 to make a change. The new tier of service also offers a hold baggage allowance of one bag weighing up to 20kg, which can cost up to £75 on top of a standard ticket in high season on busy routes. At no extra charge, ‘Business Plus’ fliers also get priority boarding and a ‘premium seat’ - one of those located either at the front of the plane or in exit rows.
All of these services must be selected at the time of booking in order to include them free of charge. If the services are added after the booking, they will be charged accordingly, Ryanair warns on its website.
The recent extension of the fast-track service is the latest among several changes the budget airline has introduced in the last year in a bid to improve its services, including an allowance for a second, small carry-on bag, a reduction of the number of clicks required to book on its new website, allocated seating, several family-friendly innovations and more discreet selling of its food and other ancillary services on board.
Last year, the airline saw an increase in passenger numbers and a rise in half-year profits, which Kenny Jacobs, the company’s chief marketing officer, put down to “improving customer experience”.
Last week, however, the airline was fined €550,000 by the Italian competition watchdog AGCM for a offering poor customer service that "rarely resolved passenger issues". The airline was also fined last February by AGCM for the “lack of transparency in their travel insurance policies” and the “obstacles created in case of refund” during the online purchase of airline tickets. The airline was accused of not supplying adequate information or providing misleading information to consumers regarding travel insurance.
UK Edition
