Ryanair rapped over 'remote' airports

Europe's most successful low-cost carrier

Ireland's Ryanair, Europe's most successful low-cost airline, has been accused of using a "smoke and mirrors technique" to keep fares low.

Britain's Consumers' Association alleged in its spring issue of "Holiday Which?" magazine that Ryanair uses airports "often miles away from the destinations they claim to serve."

It cites as an example Ryanair's use of Bologna's Forli airport - 59 km from Bologna - and alleged that passengers thinking they were flying to the Danish capital of Copenhagen actually land in Malmo in Sweden.

A Ryanair spokesman dismissed the "Which?" article as "misleading and unfair."

Cutting costs

He said the use of secondary airports kept prices down and denied Ryanair advertised the Malmo flight as going to Copenhagen.

Ryanair has built up huge volumes of business in a relatively short time through aggressive price cutting and marketing.

The Consumers' Association said it was taking its complaints to the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA).

Ryanair is already involved in litigation with German carrier Lufthansa over its base at Hahn airport, about 100 kilometres from Frankfurt, Germany.

Last month, a court ruled that Ryanair can advertise its new base as 'Frankfurt-Hahn' but another court in Cologne issued a preliminary injunction on Ryanair to stop it comparing fares from Hahn with Lufthansa's fares from Frankfurt airport.