Ryanair vs British Airways - the Real Story

Ryanair and British Airways have entered into a war of words through their recently released press releases. BA claim to have shown that Ryanair's added costs can come to an astronomical £375 for a round trip (which British Airway's equivalent extras are all free), while the low-cost Irish airline says it can prove that their on-time percentage and bags-lost-per-1,000-passengers figures are lower than the British carrier.

Read both press releases here:

• British Airways' Value Calculator
• Ryanair's "Official Report Confirms Ryanair's Customer Care is Better than BA's"

Both airlines use official facts and figures to back up their claims, so there's no point trying to refute them, right? Wrong.

First, let's look at Ryanair's press release, beginning with their best-baggage-loss-record-in-Europe claim. Now, it is not airlines that lose bags, it is airport baggage handlers. So what is the differentiating factor that is helping Ryanair? It's the airports they're flying to. A lot of Ryanair flights go to tiny airports in the middle of nowhere, where the baggage handler usually has to drive his truck about 50 meters to drop off your bags on the airport's only in-use conveyor belt. Conversely, imagine the logistical nightmare involved in getting your bags back to you when landing at huge airports like Barcelona and London Heathrow (Ryanair flies to neither of these). Barcelona can have 30 arrivals per hour, Girona (Ryanair's so-called 'Barcelona' airport), rarely has more than two. If you are so paranoid about losing your bags, you could choose to only fly to airports in the middle of nowhere, and that would most likely be with Ryanair. But when flying to big airports that Ryanair does fly to, such as Madrid, don't expect their baggage record to protect you. The same baggage handlers who lose so many British Airways bags will also be losing the Ryanair bags. And in the unlikely event that Ryanair does lose your bag, do you know how much they will pay you in compensation? Just £15.

Ryanair's other point, that they arrive on time 9% more often than British Airways, is largely irrelevant. So they may arrive on time at Girona airport 92% of the time, but most passengers aren't on their way to Girona, they're going to Barcelona! Ryanair's tendency to fly to airports in the middle of nowhere (which also allows them to advertise unsubstantiated long flight times that they can easily beat) means that, when you factor in the extra travel time to your destination that you will need once you've landed, Ryanair's boasts will fall on deaf ears. Read more on Ryanair Punctuality and how they achieve their amazing record.

So now let's look at BA's cost calculator. They claim that Ryanair costs £375 more in extras for a return flight than BA, but only using quite extreme examples, such as falling foul of their high airport check-in fee and low baggage allowance twice (I hope no-one would be that absent-minded). Also, we must factor in that British Airways' base fares are higher than Ryanair's. So, picking two random dates for flights from London Gatwick to Madrid (I went for September 17th and 24th) we find that Ryanair's base fare plus taxes come to £41.21. BA's flights for the same dates come to £114. Using British Airway's own extras calculator, how realistic is it to go over the £72.79 difference? If you do everything 'right' (Ryanair are very dictactorial in press communications on what they 'feel' is the right way to go on vacation), that is, using the online check in, checking in a bag of 15kg, not selecting priority boarding and just taking a couple of snacks (I selected 'food and snacks' and 'coffee/tea') but still paying by debit card (as electron cards are very hard to get), Ryanair's extras come to just £38, making them still cheaper than British Airways. However, add a suitcase that weighs 20kg (and it is really not hard to fill your case with this much, especially if you are going away for a couple of weeks), and Ryanair's extras shoot up to £188. But, again, would you fall for the low baggage allowance twice? I think most people could shed a little weight from their suitcase for the return trip to get under Ryanair's measly allowance.

Ryanair and British Airways need to stick to what they're good at. Despite BA's claims to cheapness and Ryanair's claims to providing good customer service, each airline falls short. If you want cheaper fares, Ryanair will usually be better than BA (as long as you read all the small print and travel with the right baggage allowance), and if you want to get to your destination quicker, you're better off flying with BA (or any airline in Europe) so that you actually get to the airport you want.

But that doesn't mean Ryanair is cheaper than all airlines in Europe. Check out this Ryanair vs easyJet Price Comparison to see what I mean.

See also: Ryanair Responds to Criticisms