Aer Lingus and Ryanair have defended increases of up to 33 per cent in charges levied on air passengers carrying baggage.
Further charges could be on the way, with Aer Lingus confirming yesterday that it is looking at the possibility of charging passengers for selecting their seats. A spokesman said no decision had been made yet.
The Consumers' Association of Ireland denounced the increased baggage charges as "a scandalous rip-off of the travelling public" and Fine Gael called on the Competition Authority to examine whether the airlines were engaging in price fixing.
Neither airline would give a reason for the increase, which in Aer Lingus' case comes just two months after it first introduced baggage charges.
Aer Lingus has increased the fee for checking in baggage online from €4 to €5 per bag per flight, a 25 per cent increase. The change was made last Thursday without announcement.
Ryanair introduced a one-third increase in its baggage charges on March 1st. For bags booked online, the fee rose from €4.50 to €6. Passengers who fail to register baggage online have been hit with a 20 per cent rise to €12 per bag per one-way flight when they present their luggage at the airport.
Ryanair's online baggage charges have risen by over 71 per cent in the year since they were introduced.
Aer Lingus claimed its baggage charges were still among the lowest in the short-haul low-cost airline market. The charge imposed on passengers who register baggage at the airport remains unchanged at €8, it pointed out, and fees for sports baggage have been reduced from €30 to €25 per pre-paid bag.
A spokesman said the airline had received no negative feedback since it introduced baggage charges in mid-January.
Ryanair said its baggage fees were "entirely discretionary" and the 45 per cent of its passengers pay no fees because they opt to travel with hand luggage only.
BMIbaby, which flies from Ireland to regional airports in Britain, has also increased its baggage charges. In January, the charge for baggage booked online rose from €4 to €4.95. The fee for registering bags in the airport has risen from €8 to €10.
Michael Kilcoyne, chairman of the Consumers' Association, said the increased charges were a clear example of private sector "profiteering" in an area where there was no real competition.
"The baggage increases, introduced by stealth by our two main carriers, are just too similar in amount, in timing, and in the manner of their introduction, to be a coincidence," Fine Gael's transport spokeswoman, Olivia Mitchell, said.
"It is difficult to avoid the conclusion that this is the result of some sort of collusion, be it explicit or implicit. As such, it demands investigation by the Competition Authority.
"This is simply a fare increase by another name. Calling it a baggage charge is plainly a dishonest device to avoid having to publicise basic fare increases."