MSE News: Ryanair hikes baggage charges and plans toilet fee

Lally

Is there a time limit on how long you can spend in the toilet? lol

Judwin

The reasoning behind charging for using the toilets is flawed because As I understand it, Ryanair cannot add 6 extra seats to their current fleet of aircraft.

There are international rules (set by IATA I think) that govern the number of seats that can be put on a comercial aircraft. Amongst other things, there are restrictions based on the number of emergency exits.

Ryanair exclusively use the Boeing 737-800, currently fitted with 189 passenger seats. The 737-800 has eight emergency exits - 2 doors at the front, two at the rear, and four overwing. 189 seats is the maximum that can be fitted on an aircraft with 8 emergency exits.

Easyjet have a fleet of Airbus A319's, fitted with (from memory) 156 seats. Their A319's have eight emergency exits, 2 doors at the front, two at the rear, and four overwing. 149? seats is the maximum that can be fitted on an aircraft with 6 emergency exits.

So I'm struggling to see how Ryanair are going to circumvent IATA rules and increase the number of seats on their current fleet by removing two of the toilets.

The other issue is that presumably they're talking about removing the two toilets at the rear of the aircraft, and retaining the one at the front. This has security issues because the one at the front is right next door to the cockpit. Next time you fly, watch what happens when the cabin crew take drinks into the cockpit, or the flight crew want to go to the loo.

I'm not saying Ryanair won't charge for the use of the loos - That's up to them. But the justification given so far seems spurious to me.

richardw

Judwin wrote: »

Easyjet have a fleet of Airbus A319's, fitted with (from memory) 156 seats. A319's have six emergency exits, 2 doors at the front, two at the rear, and two overwing.

easyJet's A319s have four over wing exits http://www.airliners.net/photo/EasyJet-Airline/Airbus-A319-111/1677584/L/&sid=08a386898ac2e382cad96a0e66eea6f6

Some A319s do have two overwing exits, but the 26 row ones easyJet and others use don't.

lisyloo

But the justification given so far seems spurious to me.

But it all free puiblicity isn't it?

NEH

Not again, they threatened this last year.... :eek:

lisyloo

The difference between a plane and a cafe is that a plane holds about 130 people

You are of course correct and for a long flight one toilet for that many people just doesn't stack up.
However I have travelled on the type of route they are talking about (London->Dublin) a few times, and to be honest the toilets are only used by a handful of people on that length of flight.
It's all jsut a publicity stunt on the basis that all publicity is good.

Judwin

richardw wrote: »

easyJet's A319s have four over wing exits http://www.airliners.net/photo/EasyJet-Airline/Airbus-A319-111/1677584/L/&sid=08a386898ac2e382cad96a0e66eea6f6

Some A319s do have two overwing exits, but the 26 row ones easyJet and others use don't.

Ok - I'm a Mil-Spotter - and more interested in wheter they've got the bacon butties on the flights I use than counting the exits on a spam can :-)

It does explain why most of the references I could find said that 149 seats was the limit for a 6 emergency exit plane though.

And I agree with those who think this is a publicity stunt by O'Leary.

cactusdust

Well, people using toilets costs Ryanair at the end of the day. I don't use the toilets, so why should I pay in my airfare for other people to use them?

Great idea, I think.

richardw

Perhaps edit your post 23 Judwin to remove the errors.

The_Hallowed_Way

I'd like to see what happens when the plane is stuck on the tarmac for three hours because it can't get a landing slot at the destination airport.

How much more is this going to cost Ryanair in cleaning costs when kids and drunks pee on the seats?