Ryanair introduces reserved seating (but you'll have to pay)
Ryanair has announced it is backing down on its turn-up-and-sit-anywhere budget travel ethos, by allowing passengers to reserve seats on some routes.
From next month, customers will be able to choose where they sit on planes flying from Dublin to London Gatwick and Malaga.
But, of course, it'll cost you - 10 euros (£8.80) each way to be precise.
The move, which comes into effect from 16 May, marks a departure from the established thinking among low-cost airlines that reserved seating hinders the quick turnaround of planes and adds admin costs.
In total, 24 seats will be available for pre-booking (in the front two rows, and the rows with extra leg room over the wings) on each 189-seat 737 aircraft.
The airline is running the new system as a two-month trial on the selected two routes and, if it's successful, the strategy will be introduced to other services.
A Ryanair spokesman told the Telegraph: 'Passengers can pre-book their favourite seats in the front two rows, to ensure a prompt exit on arrival, or in over wing exits, for extra legroom.
'If this new service proves popular with passengers then we will roll it out selectively on other Ryanair routes in the coming months.'
The reserved seating is the next step after Ryanair's priority passes, which currently allows passengers to board ahead of other customers to cherry-pick their seats.
Some critics will suggest this is merely another avenue of making money, after the airline has exhausted all other ways of raising revenue through hidden charges, including everything from credit card handling fees to baggage costs.
The announcement comes just a week after the airline was successfully sued for leaving a wheelchair-bound woman on the runway at Luton Airport after the special lift she had booked failed to arrive.
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What do you think of Ryanair's new plans for reserved seating? A helpful addition to the user service? Or another money-making scheme? Let us know your opinion below...
