The Passenger Shipping Association (PSA) is urging consumers to use more ferries following a television documentary examining Ryanair’s customer and pricing policies.
PSA director Bill Gibbons has backed the UK’s ferry services, highlighting the fact they do not charge consumers for carrying baggage, ski equipment or checking in online.
His comments follow last night’s edition of current affairs television programme Panorama, which provoked a row between the airline and the BBC.
Ryanair chief executive Michael O’Leary had accused the BBC of preparing a “hatchet job” after a disagreement over conditions under which he would be interviewed.
Gibbons said: “Panorama shows that airline passengers are increasingly being treated with no respect, with no stone left unturned as airlines scour for opportunities to load on supplementary charges at every available opportunity.
“Now is the time for passengers to give Mr O’Leary and those like him some of their own medicine, by travelling instead on Britain’s best-kept secret transport – the ferries.”
More than 40 million consumers used the UK’s ferries last year, and prices lead in at £29 for a family car and four passengers taking the Dover-Calais route.