Ryanair introducing 'reserved' seating

According to Britian’s Telegraph newspaper, the move by Ryanair marks a departure from the established thinking among no-frills airlines, that reserved seating hampers quick turnaround of jets and adds to admin costs.

It also indicates a change of strategy for Ryanair, after exhausting all other avenues of raising revenue through hidden charges including everything from credit card handling fees to baggage costs.

The Telegraph reports that passengers will have to pay €10 each way for the privilege of selecting their seats under the policy, which comes into effect from May 16.

In all, 24 seats will be available for pre-booking – in the front two rows, and the rows with extra leg room over the wings – on each 189-seat 737 aircraft.

The operator is running the system as a trial on the two routes from Ireland but will introduce it on other services if it proves successful.

A Ryanair spokesman said: "Passengers can pre-book their favourite seats in the front two rows, to ensure a prompt exit on arrival, or in over wing exits, for extra legroom.

“If this new service proves popular with passengers then we will roll it out selectively on other Ryanair routes in the coming months.”

Customers can already buy priority passes that allow them to board Ryanair flights ahead of other customers.

Following the announcement, Ryanair shares rose as much as 1.5 per cent to €3.39 in Dublin, where the company is based.

Ryanair has been criticised in the past over the extent of its additional fees.

Last week, the airline was successfully sued by a disabled woman after her husband had to carry her on to a plane using a fireman's lift when the flight crew refused to help.

Jo Heath, 57, who suffers from multiple sclerosis and uses a wheelchair, was left on a runway at Luton Airport for half an hour after the special lift she had booked failed to arrive.

The Ryanair crew refused to help her on to the plane after claiming it was unsafe for them to carry disabled passengers because they might "damage their backs''.

Mrs Heath was left "humiliated'' by the incident and sued Ryanair for GBP1,750 after Northampton county court ruled the budget airline had breached contract and broken disability discrimination laws.