Good news for short haul fliers as Ryanair slashes costs of check in baggage
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Good news for short haul fliers as Ryanair slashes costs of check in baggage

Passengers checking in baggage in Barcelona

RYANAIR has announced all passengers on flights of under three hours duration will now benefit from a reduced cost to check in baggage.

The current cost to check in baggage for flights from anywhere in the UK to Ireland will be cut by as much as 17 per cent.

Fees to check in a 15-kilogram bag will be reduced from approximately £23.19 to £19.32 while a 20-kilogram bag will be reduced from approximately £30.92 to £27.05.

Checking in baggage for domestic flights under two hours have also been reduced. A 15-kilogram bag will now cost 50 per cent less (approx £23.19 to £11.59) while a 20-kilogram piece of luggage will cost 38 per cent less (approx £30.93 to £19.33).

Fees for checking in baggage for flights that last longer than three hours will be not be changed.

This announcement will be good news to holidaymakers in the UK visiting Ireland. (According to a recent report by the Department of Tourism in Ireland the number of travellers from Britain to Ireland was up by 18 per cent from February to April this year compared to the same months last year.)

Slashing the baggage charges is part of no-frills Ryanair's Always Getting Better initiative, which aims to offer its passengers lower airfares and “fixing the areas customers didn’t like and improving the existing offering”.

The company recently announced it simplified the number of baggage fees (from 108 to 6) and axed some of the fees which saw customers had to paying £80 to check in a 20-kilogram bag at the airport.

According to the announcement, “over 92 per cent of our customers will enjoy reduced bag fees and will pay the same price for checking-in a bag whether bought at the time of the initial booking or added to the booking, regardless of seasonality”.

“Furthermore, customers will also be able to add bags to their bookings via the Ryanair app up to 3 hours before their scheduled time of departure”, a spokesperson added.