Fuel costs push Aer Lingus to raise check-in prices

Irish flag carrier Aer Lingus has become the latest airline to hike charges in the face of surging fuel costs, raising bag check-in fees as the global oil price hit a new record today of $120.93 a barrel.

Aer Lingus announced the increase this morning in the wake of similar moves last week by British Airways, which raised fuel surcharges, and easyJet, which also increased bag check-in charges. From Thursday, online bag check-in at Aer Lingus will cost


Aer Lingus said the change was driven by the the desire to “encourage more of our passengers to carry hand baggage”, but analysts said fuel was the overriding concern for carriers, following a number of airline bankruptcies over the past month due to unsustainable rises in costs.

“Airlines are trying to increase revenue for whatever sources they can, given their current fuel costs,” said Andrew Lobbenberg, analyst at ABN Amro. Fuel accounts for around a quarter of airline budgets but it is eating further and further into the bottom line of an industry that has a global profit margin of just 1%.

Guardian