Ryanair today pledged to go ‘plastic free’ in the next five years as part of a series of new passenger initiatives.
Europe’s largest budget airline outlined a series of plans for 2018 in the fifth year of its ‘Always Getting Better’ scheme.
The changes cover service, digital, ancillary and environmental developments.
The new initiatives to be introduced over the year include:
Price Promise – find a cheaper fare and the airline will refund the difference + €5 to My Ryanair accounts
Punctuality Promise – 90% of flights will be on time
Simple Bag Policy – two free cabin bag remains plus increased checked bag size for less (€25 for 20kg)
Dedicated Claims Team – valid EU261 claims processed in ten days
Greenest Airline – will be plastic free in next five years; carbon offset scheme for customers
Ryanair Rooms with Travel Credit – money off flights when booking hotels
Ryanair Transfers – wider choice of ground transport with new partner CarTrawler
Connecting Flights – at Rome, Milan and Porto, plus long-haul connections
‘Try Somewhere New’ – exclusive content on Ryanair.com; travel guides and video in seven languages
Chief marketing officer Kenny Jacobs said: “We will carry 129 million customers this year and continue to be the world’s most visited airline website.
“The ‘Always Getting Better’ programme, launched over four years ago, continues to go from strength to strength and we are pleased to unveil the 2018 plan today with an exciting range of environmental, service, digital, and ancillary initiatives.
“We are very pleased to announce our environmental plan which includes our commitment to eliminate all non-recyclable plastics from our operations over the next five years.
“For customers on board, this will mean initiatives such as a switch to wooden cutlery, bio-degradable coffee cups, and the removal of plastics from our range of in-flight products.
“We will also introduce a scheme to allow customers to offset the carbon cost of their flight through a voluntary climate charity donation online.
“We are also unveiling ‘Try Somewhere New’, a unique travel hub on the Ryanair website, hosting exclusive travel guides and destination videos in seven languages.
“While we continue to innovate, the one thing that won’t change will be our low fares – which we promise will not be beaten – and European customers will still enjoy the biggest and best choice of destinations, with the most on-time flights and a fantastic onboard experience, as we grow our fleet, traffic and routes.”
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