Aer Lingus has been accused of discriminating against families after it introduced a new charge for pre-booking seats on short haul flights.
From tomorrow until May 22nd, customers buying tickets online can prebook seats on flights in Europe for €3 per flight. However, from May 23rd the cost of prebooking will rise to €10 for the first five seat rows, €15 for an exit-row seat, with all remaining seats costing €3 to prebook.
Labour Party spokeswoman on consumer affairs Kathleen Lynch said this morning that Aer Lingus "appears to have surpassed [Ryanair chief] Michael O'Leary's efforts when it comes to slapping on extra charges. Charging up to €15 for the simple privilege of seat selection is unfair and exploitative," she said.
"A family of two adults and four kids travelling on a three-hour flight to Continental Europe who - quite understandably - want to ensure they are seated together will now have to pay almost €100 extra to do so."
National Consumer Agency chairwoman Ann Fitzgerald, last night denounced the charges. "This is purely a money-making exercise, a new way of charging consumers for something that was already available."
Last month the airline increased its baggage-handling charges by 25 per cent without any formal announcement, only two months after it first introduced the charge.
Both Ryanair and Aer Lingus have introduced baggage charges; so far there is no indication that Ryanair plans to follow its rival's example by charging for prebooking.
Aer Lingus says customers will still be able to select their seat from what remains when checking in at no additional charge. It says seat-selection policy on long-haul flights is under review.