High sky rip-off
Most of us have got used to the increasing share of additional fees and charges of all hue in the overall travel expenses. And even though we all seem to know how things work, it may come as a surprise when we take a look at the recent figures. The latest findings published by the consultancy company IdeaWorks and the travel technology partner Amadeus reveal that the ancillary revenues have been growing ever more rapidly over the last years. Suffice it to say that the 96 airlines included in the research earned in this way a total of $13.5 billion for 2009 alone which means an increase of 43% compared to the previous year.
Despite the fact that European travellers do have a good reason to be discontent about the additional expenses, e.g when travelling with Ryanair, these are the passengers in The United States who seem to bear the heaviest burden. The research results display namely that the American companies top the list of “the high sky extortionists”. Highest in the 2009 ranking scores Allegiant Air with 29.2% of its annual revenues being derived from ancillary services including the whole range of services, such as e.g. car rental. Next on the list one can find among others Spirit and Ryanair.
Concise information concerning both the above-mentioned airlines and many others may be found on this overview page.
Sources: bording.dk and aftenposten.no.
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