Company aims to take the sting out of Ryanair charge

PAUL CULLEN, Consumer Affairs Correspondent

RYANAIR’S PLAN to increase the charge for printing boarding cards in the airport to €100 has proved a boon for an Irish internet company which is offering the same service for less than €1.

Surfbox, based in Kilkenny, says 100 Ryanair passengers a day are printing off their boarding cards at its kiosks in Dublin airport, which were installed three months ago. The company has now opened kiosks in Cork, Shannon and Liverpool airports.

Ryanair charges passengers €40 for printing boarding cards in the airport. The penalty is designed to discourage passengers from using the check-in desks and encourage them to print out the boarding cards at home before they arrive for their flight.

The vast majority of passengers print out their own cards, however, Ryanair chief executive Michael O’Leary has suggested that the charge could be more than doubled.

No date had been set for increasing the charge, a spokesman told The Irish Times .