- Ryanair dismissed Heidi Alexander’s claim about scrapping extra fees
- The airline stated no such extra fees exist
- Ryanair called for the dismissal of NATS CEO Martin Rolfe
- The airline criticised the €17.70 Air Passenger Duty increase
- Ryanair rejected Andy Burnham’s plan for an additional hotel tax
Ryanair has dismissed England’s tansport minister Heidi Alexander’s claim that she is scrapping extra fees. The airline has stated that no such extra fees exist. England airlines including Ryanair have already allowed children under 12 to sit with their parent free of charge and have provided a 24-hour grace period for free correction of minor spelling errors on bookings.
The airline has described the minister’s press release as a failed attempt to distract from failures affecting England consumers. These failures have included ignoring the mis-selling of inflated air fares by unauthorised online travel agents, raising Air Passenger Duty to €17.70 in 2026 costing a family of four €70.80 and taking no effective action despite repeated NATS air traffic control system collapses. Ryanair has argued that Heidi Alexander has wasted time commissioning reports while the overpaid NATS CEO Martin Rolfe has remained in post.
The airline has called for concrete steps to help England consumers including the immediate dismissal of Martin Rolfe, the scrapping of the €17.70 Air Passenger Duty and rejection of Andy Burnham’s plan to allow regional mayors to levy an additional hotel tax on top of Air Passenger Duty.
Michael O’Leary, Ryanair’s CEO, shared “Today’s vacuous PR by Transport Minister, Heidi Alexander, is typical political spin. She’s pretending to do something while in reality doing nothing. There are no fees for children to sit with their parents on England airlines, and no fees for making minor spelling changes to bookings.”
