Airline considers fee for lavatory use, coin operated door release [View All]

Airline considers fee for lavatory useB

By A. Pawlowski, CNN

April 7, 2010 3:21 p.m. EDT
Ryanair, a budget airline based in Ireland, is known for its rock-bottom fares and multitude of fees.

Ryanair may require travelers to pay for lavatory use on short flights

Airline is working with Boeing to develop coin-operated door release
Budget airline, based in Ireland, is also raising checked bag fees for summer
Ryanair is known for its fees and is up-front about them on its Web site
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Ryanair, which is based in Dublin, Ireland, and bills itself as "Europe's first and largest low fares airline," is mulling a plan that would require travelers to pay either 1 euro or 1 British pound (about $1.33 or $1.52) for using the bathroom on flights lasting one hour or less.

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The carrier said it is working with Boeing to develop a coin-operated door release so that when nature calls, passengers would need to deposit the change before being able to use the facilities.

The idea is to encourage people to use restrooms in airport terminals before boarding, Ryanair said. If the airline were to proceed, the changes would be at least 12 to 18 months away.

As part of the plan, the airline is also considering removing two of the three lavatories on some of its planes so it could squeeze in up to six extra seats. The move would help reduce fares by at least 5 percent, Ryanair said.

http://www.cnn.com/2010/TRAVEL/04/07/ryanair.lavatory.fee/index.html?hpt=T2