Ryanair has announced that it will display third-party advertising on its boarding cards from early 2010. My first thought was: fair enough, why not?
But then I twigged that Ryanair will be raking in revenues from all angles and outsourcing all of the costs - no surprises there then.
Think about it. Ryanair passengers have to pay £5 per sector for checking in online, or more at the airport. This means that travellers will essentially pay for the privilege of printing this boarding card advertising, using their own ink, on their own home computers.
Ryanair even mentions this in its statement: "This will allow advertisers to reach the 66 million Ryanair passengers that will print their boarding cards from the comfort of their own home next year."
But the Irish budget carrier is keen to stress the passenger benefits: "The revenue from online advertising will help Ryanair to continue to lower fares for its passengers."
So that's alright then...
For an update on the latest airline ancillary trends, see our January edition which will be available in print and online from w/c 22 December.
on December 18, 2009 10:17 PM | Reply
Should read: "... will help Ryanair offer its shareholders higher ROI now that we no longer will grow all-speed."