Ryanair to begin removing toilets from aircraft

by Steven Mostyn - Oct 13 2011, 07:58

Seeing as fare-paying passengers didn’t seem willing to spend a pound in order to spend a penny aboard Ryanair flights, company chief executive Michael O’Leary has decided to begin removing toilet facilities from his fleet of aircraft.

This is apparently the latest cost-cutting move by Europe’s largest budget airline and, if it’s enforced, will result in the removal of two out or every three toilets currently built onto each of Ryanair’s commercial jetliners.

Speaking with UK broadsheet The Independent, O’Leary said that, by asking up to 190 passengers per flight to share a single toilet, his company expects to drop flight fares by around five percent (approx. 2GBP on a 40GBP ticket).  

“We’re trying to push Boeing to re-certify the aircraft for six more seats, particulatly for short haul flights,” said the Ryanair boss. “We very rarely use all three toilets on board our aircraft anyway.”

Although Ryanair has stopped short of completely abandoning on-board toilets, it’s still likely that queues of disgruntled passengers will form once airborne—and it’ll probably be a nightmare for cabin crew when it comes to clearing the aisle ahead of landing.

So, it’s perhaps worth bearing in mind that old adage of ‘going before you go’ where Ryanair is concerned, especially for those outbound and inbound holidaymakers on the carrier’s longest route between Liverpool and Rhodes (which takes four and a half hours).

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