Ryanair is to remove all check-in desks and staff from airports by the end of the year to cut costs.

Published: 23 Feb 2009

Ryanair is to remove all check-in desks and staff from airports by the end of the year to cut costs.

Airline's chief executive Michael O'Leary told the Daily Telegraph: "All we will have is a bag drop where passengers can drop off their luggage, otherwise everything will be done online. Ultimately, we want just one in five people to check-in luggage."

He added that the savings would be passed on to passengers in the form of lower fares, adding that baggage fees - which costs £19 for a return flight - may be reduced when it becomes possible to check-in your bags online. The charge for those that exceed the 15kg limit for a checked-in bag is £14 per kilo.

According to the airline, 97 percent of its customers already booked their flights online.

Ryanair spokesman Stephen McNamara told Reuters that 75 percent of the airline's passenger already used its online check-in services.

"We are trying to encourage the remaining 25 percent to do the same," he said. ""Hopefully by the end of the year we will have bag drop-in areas instead, which will be manned."

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