Rising costs for BA travellers

Whilst British Airways is the epitome of Britain when it comes to air travel it seems that for those that want to fly BA will have to pay over the odds, as the airline brings in a variety of new regulations to try and help it cope with rising costs and increased financial losses.

The latest announcement from the airline is that travellers that wish to reserve their seat prior to travelling will have to fork out a small fortune, with reports that passengers will be charged up to £60 each to reserve a seat on the plane prior to travelling.

Officials have said that the airline seems to be taking ideas from the no-frills airlines such as Ryanair, which have been slated for the variety of additional extras that are charged, which bumps up the headline price of the flight.

In the last financial year BA is said to have made a loss of around £401 million, and it is thought that this new regulation is part of a range of measures designed to try and make money back for the struggling flagship airline.

The measure has angered many people, who have branded it a way for those with plenty of cash to get good seats whereas those that do not have extra money to splash around will have to put up with the leftovers.

It could also mean that taller and disabled passengers will end up paying more due to having to get a seat with extra legroom, and therefore being charged up to £60 for reserving the seat prior to travelling.

An official from the Liberal Democrats stated: ‘This is fundamentally dishonest. I am disappointed that British Airways is adopting Ryanair-style tactics. This is not about listening to customers at all. It’s about getting extra revenue. It looks like those willing to pay will be able to jump the queue. This will force up the price. The Government should step in so people know the price they are paying when they book their ticket. BA is trying to keep down the advertised ticket price. It’s designed to fool people into paying one price when they are really paying something else. Passengers are increasingly faced with obscure hurdles to finding the real cost of their flying.’

Tags: british airways, flights, part, low cost airlines, Ryanair-style, reserve seats