Ryanair's card payment fees 'puerile'

Budget airline Ryanair has been accused of 'almost taunting' passengers with the charges it imposes for using cards when booking flights.

In an interview with the Independent newspaper, John Fingleton, the chief executive of the Office of Fair Trading, described the airline's tactics as 'puerile' and 'almost childish'. Customers booking flights with Ryanair only find out that they will be charged for using a card at the end of the booking process.

Fingleton said Ryanair had chosen a rare payment method - MasterCard pre-pay - to get around the rules which state that if an airline offers at least one free payment method, it is allowed to advertise cheap fares that do not include extra credit card charges.

He told the Independent: 'It's almost like taunting consumers and pointing out: 'Oh well, we know this is completely outside the spirit of the law, but we think it's within the narrow letter of the law'.