Ryanair boss considers increasing staff bonus to tackle excess baggage ‘scourge'
It is reported that the bonus is capped at about 80 euros (£70) for each staff member per month.
Ryanair wants to eliminate excess baggage from its flights (Peter Byrne/PA)
Passengers are charged a fee of up to 75 euros (£65) for bringing luggage that is larger than they paid for while booking their journey.
Ryanair currently includes a small carry-on bag – capped at a size of 40x20x25cm and weight of 10kg – with every ticket.
Passengers must pay a fee if they want to bring larger luggage, or if they want to bring multiple bags.
Ryanair boss Michael O'Leary said on Monday that summer fares would, on average, be the same rate as 2023 – but added that he expects a boost in profitability for the airline by 'controlling costs'.
Members of the European Parliament are pushing for airlines to allow passengers to be allowed to bring on free an on-board personal item and small hand luggage.
However, Mr O'Leary predicted the proposal will not come into law due to a lack of space.
Speaking to the business news on RTE's Morning Ireland, he said: 'We're flying largely full flights, about half the passengers can bring two bags and the other half can only bring one – because that's all that fits in the plane.
'We're already struggling with that amount of baggage.
'That's one of the reasons we are so aggressive about eliminating the scourge of passengers with excess baggage.'
Mr O'Leary said more than 99.9% of passengers comply with baggage rules, with 'sizers' located within the airport.
He said: 'We are happy to incentivise our (staff) with a share of those excess baggage fees, which we think will decline over the coming year or two.'
The chief executive added: 'It is about 1.50 euro per bag – and we're thinking of increasing it, so we eliminate it.'
Meanwhile, Mr O'Leary predicted that US President Donald Trump will 'chicken out' of introducing increased tariffs for Europe on August 1.
US President Donald Trump (Suzanne Plunkett/PA)
Asked if he anticipated tariffs applying to Boeing aircraft being delivered to the airline, he said: 'Trump will probably chicken out again, I suspect the August 1 will get moved to September or October.
'We have taken delivery of five aircraft in the first quarter but no tariffs applied to those aircraft
'There is a risk of tariffs being introduced by the Europeans or the Americans in some tit-for-tat in August, September or October – but Boeing will have to pay those tariffs.'
Mr O'Leary said Ryanair would work with Boeing to ensure no tariffs are applied to commercial aircraft, which he said would be bad for the manufacturer's exports to Europe as well as Airbus's sales to the US – as well as the Irish aircraft leasing industry.
He added: 'There's increasing optimism, though, in Washington that commercial aircraft will be exempt from any tariffs – if Trump ever gets around to actually imposing tariffs.'
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Rhyl Journal
20 minutes ago
- Rhyl Journal
Irish premier welcomes trade deal between EU and US
The deal was reached during a meeting between Donald Trump and the president of the European Commission on Sunday. The US president met European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen to hammer out the final details on the trading relationship between Europe and the US. Reacting to the deal, Taoiseach Micheal Martin said the agreement was very welcome. I welcome the outcome of trade talks today between the European Commission and the US. — Micheál Martin (@MichealMartinTD) July 27, 2025 'It brings clarity and predictability to the trading relationship between the EU and the US – the biggest in the world,' the Fianna Fail leader said. 'That is good for businesses, investors and consumers. It will help protect many jobs in Ireland. 'The negotiations to get us to this point have been long and complex, and I would like to thank both teams for their patient work. 'We will now study the detail of what has been agreed, including its implications for businesses exporting from Ireland to the US, and for different sectors operating here. 'The agreement is a framework and there will be more detail to be fleshed out in the weeks and months ahead.' Mr Martin said the higher tariffs will have an impact on trade between the EU and the US, which will make it more expensive and more challenging. 'However, it also creates a new era of stability that can hopefully contribute to a growing and deepening relationship between the EU and the US, which is important not just for the EU and the US, but for the global economy,' he added. 'Given the very real risk that existed for escalation and for the imposition of punitively high tariffs, this news will be welcomed by many.' The deal was also welcomed by deputy Irish premier and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade Simon Harris, who said it brings clarity to businesses. 'While we have yet to see the detail, I welcome that an agreement has been announced by Commission President von der Leyen and US President Trump,' Mr Harris said in a statement. 'A deal provides a measure of much-needed certainty for Irish, European and American businesses who together represent the most integrated trading relationship in the world. Ireland makes a key contribution to this with the Ireland-US economic relationship valued at more than one trillion euros. 'The US had made clear, and this has been replicated in other recent agreements, which the US has reached with other countries, that a baseline tariff was always going to be part of the outcome. 'I have always stressed that tariffs are damaging and will have a negative impact on companies exporting to the US. 'While Ireland regrets that the baseline tariff of 15% is included in the agreement, it is important that we now have more certainty on the foundations for the EU-US trade relationship, which is essential for jobs, growth and investment. 'President von der Leyen described this as 15% tariffs across the board, all-inclusive.' He said further detail is needed around pharma, aviation and other sectors. Mr Harris said he will examine the details of the agreement over the coming days to establish the effect on Irish businesses and the economy. Earlier, EU commissioner Michael McGrath said the meeting was a 'significant and decisive moment'. Mr McGrath, EU Commissioner for Democracy, Justice, the Rule of Law and Consumer Protection, said it would involve substantive negotiations between both sides. 'It's a significant moment, we hope a decisive moment, and it builds on an enormous amount of work that has been done over quite a period of time,' Mr McGrath said ahead of the meeting. 'President Trump invited President von der Leyen to Scotland for a meeting. 'This follows on the back of intensive negotiations over a number of months. He added: 'It is not a case of turning up and signing on the dotted line. There will be a real discussion that will happen, and it will take on a dynamic of its own, and let's see what happens over the course of the afternoon. 'But from the EU's point of view, we are determined to do all that we can to get a deal for European businesses, because we recognise the cost of uncertainty. 'It manifests in trade and in investment decisions and ultimately in employment and of course tariffs can cost consumers at the end of the day. 'We want a good deal. We have negotiated hard, and we're at a point now where hopefully the two leaders can today bring it to a concluding phase.'
Telegraph
21 minutes ago
- Telegraph
Trump: wind farms are a ‘con job'
President Donald Trump branded wind power a 'con job' after playing golf in Scotland, describing how turbines ruined the view from the 18th hole of his Turnberry course. The president said wind farms spoiled the landscape and sucked in expensive subsidies in comments likely to complicate a meeting with Sir Keir Starmer on Monday. 'The whole thing is a con job. It's very expensive,' he added as he announced a trade deal with the EU. The deal includes the EU buying billions of dollars of American energy, including natural gas. Mr Trump spent Sunday morning playing golf with his son Eric and club members before sitting down for crucial European trade talks. 'Today I'm playing the best course, I think, in the world, Turnberry,' he said, in front of a giant picture window looking out on its fairways, dunes and the sea beyond. 'It's probably the best course in the world. And I look over the horizon and I see nine windmills at the end of the 18th. I said, 'Isn't that a shame?'' Mr Trump's Scotland visit is centred around his two golf clubs. On Friday, engulfed in the Epstein scandal at home, he issued an eleventh-hour invitation to Ursula von der Leyen, the European Commission president, to come to his Ayrshire golf club to try to agree a trade deal before crippling tariffs come into force on August 1. He announced a trade deal shortly after the meeting at Turnberry, and dismissed the idea the deal was a useful distraction from the Epstein accusations. 'We have reached a deal. It's a good deal for everybody,' he told reporters, confirming 15 per cent tariffs on all goods. Ms von der Leyen also hailed it as a 'good deal'. Mr Trump's comments on wind energy, however, are likely to complicate Mr Trump's meeting on Monday with Sir Keir, who has staked Britain's future energy supply on wind. In its manifesto last year, Labour promised to work with the private sector to double Britain's onshore wind power capacity by 2030. That meant ending the de facto ban on new onshore wind farms in England and, by declaring them nationally significant infrastructure projects, stripping councils of their power to block giant onshore wind farm developments. The policy, drawn up by Ed Miliband, the Energy Secretary, and condemned by critics as a 'power grab', cleared the way for a raft of new wind farms with turbines predicted to exceed 800ft in height. In Scotland on Sunday, Mr Trump pushed back on any suggestion that his 'beautiful' morning of golf had put him in a good mood. 'I'm actually not in a great mood,' he said at the press conference with Ms von der Leyen, to laughter from his team. Mr Trump may be on British soil, but he is meeting foreign leaders on home territory. The vast ballroom at Turnberry was set out like the Oval Office, scene of so many televised showdowns. The president took the seat on the right, just as he would at the White House, with his five advisers in seats beside him, arranged as if on the familiar couches, facing their counterparts no more than four feet away. A small group of guests, including his sons Donald Jr and Eric, were seated to one side, with a close-up view of the spectacle. But for all the important issues at stake, Mr Trump could not resist returning to golf and the presence of wind turbines. He was visiting Turnberry for the first time since Kirk Hill wind farm began producing energy from eight turbines that rise more than 300 ft into the air. 'The whole thing is a con job,' he said. 'It's very expensive, and in all fairness, Germany tried it and wind doesn't work.' He said it made no sense to subsidise energy projects such as wind farms. 'With energy, you make money, you don't lose money. But more important than that is it ruins the landscape,' he said. 'It kills the birds.' He also said that 'windmills' were driving whales 'loco'. Long-running battle over turbines Mr Trump's hatred of turbines stems from a long-planning battle he had with Scottish authorities. He opposed plans for a major North Sea wind power development that he complained could be seen from his Aberdeenshire course but lost the case. On Monday, Sir Keir is expected to push Mr Trump for his help in securing a ceasefire in Gaza. The president promised more aid for Gaza but indicated that he had run out of patience with Hamas, accusing the terror group of toughening its line on returning the last remaining Israeli hostages. 'They don't want to give them back, and so Israel's going to have to make a decision,' he said. His US negotiators left Qatar, which is mediating talks, on Thursday as talks collapsed. In the press conference, Mr Trump also called Iran 'stupid' for continuing to enrich uranium in the wake of US air strikes on its nuclear facilities. He said Iran had been 'beaten up very badly, for good reason'. 'I think Iran has been very nasty, with their words, with their mouth. I think they've been very nasty. They got the hell knocked out of them and I don't think they know it,' he added. 'You've just come out of something that's so bad and they talk about: we want to continue enrichment … How stupid can you be to say that?'
Rhyl Journal
26 minutes ago
- Rhyl Journal
Trump and von der Leyen agree EU-US deal on US President's Scotland visit
The bloc will face 15% tariffs on most of its goods including cars, semiconductors and pharmaceuticals entering America rather than a 30% levy previously threatened by the US President. President of the EU Commission Ursula von der Leyen said the agreement would provide 'certainty in uncertain times' for citizens and businesses, while Mr Trump hailed what he described as the 'biggest deal ever made'. They also agreed 'zero for zero' tariffs on a number of products including aircraft, some agricultural goods and certain chemicals, Ms von der Leyen said. The two leaders met at the US President's Turnberry golf resort in Ayrshire on Sunday to hammer out the broad terms of the agreement, the detail of which is due to be fleshed out in the coming weeks. Before their bilateral talks, which lasted around an hour, Mr Trump had said there was a '50-50' chance of the deal being reached as a number of the sticking points remained. Following the meeting, he said: 'I think it's great that we made a deal today instead of playing games and maybe not making a deal at all … I think it's the biggest deal ever made.' Ms von der Leyen said: 'Today's deal creates certainty in uncertain times, it delivers stability and predictability for citizens on both sides of the Atlantic.' Irish Taoiseach Micheal Martin welcomed the 'clarity' the agreement brought to the transatlantic trade relationship and said the implications for exports from Ireland would be studied in the coming days. Together, the EU and the US are a market of 800 million people. And nearly 44 percent of global GDP. It's the biggest trade deal ever ↓ — Ursula von der Leyen (@vonderleyen) July 27, 2025 'That is good for businesses, investors and consumers. It will help protect many jobs in Ireland,' he said. 'The negotiations to get us to this point have been long and complex, and I would like to thank both teams for their patient work. 'We will now study the detail of what has been agreed, including its implications for businesses exporting from Ireland to the US, and for different sectors operating here.' The development on Sunday evening looks to have averted the prospect of transatlantic trade war amid concerns that US tariff rates could damage the world economy. However, uncertainty remains over American levies on steel, which Mr Trump has suggested remains subject to a rate of 50%.
