What is your view on Knock Airport charging everyone a tenner to leave it?

Graham

Graham wrote: »

Any reason you skipped the airline that operates the majority of flights?

Yes, yes there is a reason. I left it out because THE AIRLINE does not display this info. Why? I don't know.

It's already been said that the only ones to not tell you about the charge is Ryanair. The airport itself and all over airlines make their customers aware of it prior to purchase. I have no idea why there are posts on here blaming Knock for hiding it when they clearly don't. If you don't agree with the charge, don't use the airport but don't blame the airport for Ryanair's omissions.

Mars Bar

Tin Foil Hat wrote: »

It seems like a fantastic way to make sure that any tourist leaving Ireland, through Knock, is left with a final feeling of having been conned. Stupid, shortsighted, bullsh1t.

I've never felt that simply because it's such a breeze getting through the place. It's so relaxed and quiet I just think I'm looking forward to a quiet drink before getting on the plane.

Graham

Strawberry Milkshake wrote: »

Yes, yes there is a reason. I left it out because THE AIRLINE does not display this info. Why? I don't know.

Sounds like a great question to ask the National Consumer Agency as this appears to be in direct contravention of 1008/2008/ec

websites or companies selling airline tickets are required to indicate the “final price”, that is to say, the price of the flight in addition to all taxes, fees and surcharges which are essential for the purposes of the flight.

Is Anyone aware of any exemptions that flights to Knock may be operating under?

Fred Swanson

This post has been deleted.

The One Who Knocks

ardle1 wrote: »

Knock Knock!

Imposter!

ScumLord

Graham wrote: »

especially considering the largest airline to fly from Knock makes no mention of it.

Sounds like your grievance is with ryanair for misinforming you.

And other small airports around Europe have the same charge, it's slightly higher in the UK because your paying in pounds.

Graham

I'm not in the UK but thanks to your tip I've discovered the omission of the charge from ticket prices also contravenes 2 of the OFT/CAA Consumer Law Guidelines

Misleading Ommissions
A business sells flight tickets, but it is only when the consumer gets to the airport that they are told that they must pay a fee
in order to access the departure gate. Failing to provide this information at the time of booking, in a clear and prominent manner, such as by including it in the advertised headline price, is likely to be a misleading omission.

Aggressive Practices
A consumer books a flight that departs from an airport that imposes an Airport Development Fee (ADF) payable at the airport before being allowed access to the departure gates. If the consumer is unaware of the ADF at the time of booking and only becomes aware of it on arrival at the airport they may feel they have no option but to pay this unavoidable charge in order to avoid missing their flight. This could amount to undue influence.

Andy From Sligo

robbers! - daylight robbery, get to the airport go to departure lounge and they rob you of a tenner - they relieve you of another tenner .... but just do it in a nicer way with a booth (i cannot comment whether its with a smile) and signs explaining its for a 'development fee' and make it look like its not daylight robbery - what do they expect to people not to feel hard done by?

- and by taking your last tenner you cannot spend it in their departure lounge shops can ye - shooting themselves in the foot they are - and who cares about development of it they are only flying in and out of it ... not living there!

- I used to travel there when there was no 'development fee' it still used to run.... planes still used to take off and land, you still used to check in OK, you still could have something to drink and eat before you get on a plane, sure its nice clean, and airy and light now and pleasant ....

but did I or anyone else ask them to 'develop' the airport to what it is today? ... no I dont believe I did I was happy with it the way it was and I didnt have to pay anything more before I left the airport - see everyone happy no problem ... until some bright spark said "I know lets start charging a tenner to everyone on the way out - just put a sign up saying its for development fee or something"

- no, if you want to charge a development fee put it on car parking charges or in the shops in the departure lounge or charge airlines it or I dunno I have no experience of running airports but I have experience of rip of charges and trying to keep them quiet so people are hit right at the last minute where "they dont want to cause a fuss" or think "I better pay it or I dunno what will happen if I dont" ....

mass_debater

Andy From Sligo wrote: »

robbers! - daylight robbery, get to the airport go to departure lounge and they rob you of a tenner - they relieve you of another tenner .... but just do it in a nicer way with a booth (i cannot comment whether its with a smile) and signs explaining its for a 'development fee' and make it look like its not daylight robbery - what do they expect to people not to feel hard done by? - and by taking your last tenner you cannot spend it in their departure lounge shops can ye - shooting themselves in the foot - and who cares about development? - I used to travel there when there was no 'development fee' it still used to run.... planes still used to take off and land, you still used to check in OK, you still could have something to drink and eat before you get on a plane, sure its nice clean, and airy and light now and pleasant .... but did I or anyone else ask them to 'develop' the airport to what it is today? ... no I dont believe I did I was happy with it the way it was and I didnt have to pay anything more before I left the airport - see everyone happy no problem ... until some bright spark said "I know lets start charging a tenner to everyone on the way out - just put a sign up saying its for development fee or something" - no, if you want to charge a development fee put it on car parking charges or in the shops in the departure lounge or charge airlines it or I dunno I have no experience of running airports but I have experience of rip of charges and trying to keep them quiet so people are hit right at the last minute where "they dont want to cause a fuss" or think "I better pay it or I dunno what will hapen if I dont" ....

Nearly as frustrating as your puntuation

Thoie

Kerry airport used do the same -they may still do, but I haven't flown to there in years. Again, the first time it left an extremely sour taste in my mouth. I was flying from Kerry back to Dublin (maybe 10/15 years ago). Gave the taxi driver the last of my cash, but wasn't bothered, as I knew there was a cash machine in Dublin airport.

Check in in Kerry, and they demand a fiver (or whatever it was) from me or won't let me board. They had no method of taking card payments, no cash machine, and none of the shops could give me cash back. In the end some random stranger on my flight paid for me (and I gave him the cash back as soon as we got to a cash machine in Dublin airport). But it really disgusted me. I went back over every single thing to see if it was mentioned anywhere in advance, and it wasn't.

A year later I was taking a similar flight, and scoured everything to see if it was mentioned, and it wasn't. Thankfully I was prepared, and had cash with me the second time, but it was obviously in place for over 12 months without any advance warning to passengers.

I flew home from Riga earlier this year, and there were giant warnings on every bit of documentation I got that I'd have to pay an exit fee, and that was fine - I knew about it and was prepared.

Getting stung without warning as you're leaving somewhere (particularly if it's your very final experience of a holiday in a new country) is sickening. You really feel like you're being blackmailed or held for a crappy ransom, and I find it really off-putting. As long as you know in advance, it's a bit irksome, but alright.

Like many other people, it really makes me think there's something dodgy happening, as you're still paying airport taxes, but there's suddenly a surprise cash-only tax on top of it as well.

Tarzana2

Graham wrote: »

That may (and I emphasise MAY) be absolute nonsense unless you can link to evidence that Knock airport has major and permanent cash flow problems.

Why would someone post evidence for a speculative comment?

Graham

Tarzana2 wrote: »

Why would someone post evidence for a speculative comment?

I did qualify my question with MAY, it was a speculative question.

Tarzana2

Graham wrote: »

Sounds like a great question to ask the National Consumer Agency as this appears to be in direct contravention of 1008/2008/ec



Is Anyone aware of any exemptions that flights to Knock may be operating under?

Probably no exemptions and it needs to be taken up with Ryanair more than Knock Airport. Maybe Ryanair has been asked to make it clear that there is this charge, but Knock Airport relies heavily on Ryanair so...

siblers

ScumLord wrote: »

It's worth ten euro to avoid Driving to Dublin, paying tolls, paying for a bus or parking, dealing with Dublin traffic.. Lovely handy little airport that's easy to get to for us muck savages, it's got a wonderful view and you get a wave from mary every time you take off.

There isn't a ten euro development fee at Farranfore and everything you said above applies to Farranfore, part from Mary the aul bitch.

Tarzana2

Graham wrote: »

I did qualify my question with MAY, it was a speculative question.

Right... but you still asked someone to provide evidence when they were just speculating. So, your 'may' was pretty redundant seeing as they weren't making unsubstantiated claims in the first place.

Graham

Tarzana2 wrote: »

Right... but you still asked someone to provide evidence when they were just speculating. So, your 'may' was pretty redundant seeing as they weren't making unsubstantiated claims in the first place.

If it makes you feel better:

OK

I accept a previous poster has speculated that Knock airport needs to collect cash from passengers because it's the only way for the airport to keep its head above water.

Personally, it's not an argument I'd be making in support of any business but there you go.

Tarzana2

As already pointed out:

- other airports likely have this fee
- it's incorporated into ticket prices most likely
- other airlines flying into Knock inform people of this airport fee at the booking stage
- Ryanair appears to be the only one that doesn't
- Knock Airport relies heavily on Ryanair

Who is the problem here, as you see it?

Fred Swanson

This post has been deleted.

Tin Foil Hat

Tarzana2 wrote: »

As already pointed out:

- other airports likely have this fee
- it's incorporated into ticket prices most likely
- other airlines flying into Knock inform people of this airport fee at the booking stage
- Ryanair appears to be the only one that doesn't
- Knock Airport relies heavily on Ryanair

Who is the problem here, as you see it?

The airport that shakes down passengers for an extra tenner that they're not willing to display honestly on their bill, obviously.

muddypaws

rainbowtrout wrote: »

But it's not hidden from the customer. It's flagged to them when they are booking their flights. Not everybody lives in Dublin, and not everything revolves around Dublin.

If two flights are going to London from Dublin and Knock I can save at least €50 on petrol and tolls flying from Knock not to mind saving myself the drive to Dublin as well. I would imagine this is the way most people flying from Knock see it.

Knock - Stansted , 09:55 , 15th January 2015

Dublin - Stanstead, 08:15, 15th January 2015


Cost of Knock flight 17.99
Cost of Dublin flight 19.99

Duration of flight from Knock , 1 hr 25 mins
Duration of flight from Dublin , 1 hr 20 mins

But does this not disprove the assertion that keeps being made that other airports charge it, but it is included in the price of the ticket?

I fly out of Knock quite often, it is my nearest airport, its handy, its a nice airport, but the tenner annoys me every time, as they call it a development fee, but I haven't seen anything change over the last few years. Anyone flying with Aer Lingus also needs to check what size hand luggage is allowed, as its classed as a regional flight, so is smaller than if you took a flight from Dublin - but thats a whole other thread.

Andy From Sligo

oh if other airports do it then lets all follow like sheep then .... and we can also use this along with an excuse to charge it as well ..... when the other excuses fall flat and dont warrant it being charged.

So, what really would happen if the scrapped the charge from tomorrow then? - would that be it for Knock Airport then? - will it be by byes for it?

Kevin McCloud

€10 is a big fee to pay, half would be too much.

mass_debater

Andy From Sligo wrote: »

So, what really would happen if the scrapped the charge from tomorrow then? - would that be it for Knock Airport then? - will it be by byes for it?

Yes, they would struggle to survive, would need to increase the landing fee, which would in turn force the airlines to pull out and move to other airports.

If you've a problem with the fee go elsewhere.

Graham

mass_debater wrote: »

Yes, they would struggle to survive, would need to increase the landing fee, which would in turn force the airlines to pull out and move to other airports.

If you've a problem with the fee go elsewhere.

But every other post here describes how people don't mind paying the tenner for the luxury and convenience of travelling from Knock. If that's the case, why would adding it to the passenger handling charge make a difference?

mass_debater

Graham wrote: »

But every other post here describes how people don't mind paying the tenner for the luxury and convenience of travelling from Knock. If that's the case, why would adding it to the passenger handling charge make a difference?

You need to ask the management, maybe it's easier to collect, maybe airlines insist on their cut, I don't have those answers. I do know that the west would still be a sad lonely place without this airport.

Mars Bar

If it was to be paid through the airline and not through the airport, how can we be sure that the airport is getting 100% of the fee?

Graham

mass_debater wrote: »

If you've a problem with the fee go elsewhere.

Easier done if you know such a fee exists. hasnt it been established earlier in this thread that this isn't the case.

mass_debater

Graham wrote: »

Easier done if you know such a fee exists. hasnt it been established earlier in this thread that this isn't the case.

Yes, the issue is with Ryanair, they fail to notify of the fee, all others do. I think we're on lap 5 at this stage.

Andy From Sligo

for a trial they ought to have a clear perspex 'tank' and a sign "please donate what you can, your money helps in the development and running of this airport and keeps it open and your donations are much appreciated" - who knows they might get some generous well off wan's putting more than a tenner in there ..... though more than likely end up getting less money than the way they are robbing (sorry collecting) now!

Tarzana2

Tin Foil Hat wrote: »

The airport that shakes down passengers for an extra tenner that they're not willing to display honestly on their bill, obviously.

It's not extra though. It's separate but not extra. A crucial distinction.

I think Knock Airport should display it as a permanent banner on their homepage. But who looks at airport websites when booking? It needs to be made clear at the booking stage. Other airlines apart from Ryanair do so. I don't know why Ryanair don't or how they get away with it.