Ryanair has axed its subscription service that allowed members to make up to 12 discounted flights each year after it cost the airline about €1.6 million.
The service, called Prime, was launched in March and cost customers €79 annually. It involved signing up to a monthly email listing the discounted fares available as well as other promotional material.
Subscribers could purchase up to 12 flights a year, and were able to reserve one of the allocated Prime seats as long as one was available.
The package also included travel insurance covering cancellations arising from a range of circumstances, delays, stolen baggage and, in most cases, medical treatment.
Ryanair chief marketing officer Dara Brady described the offer as “a no-brainer” when it was launched in March, and said the service would be “limited to” 250,000 subscribers, more than four times the number who ultimately signed up.
In a statement on Friday, Ryanair said it was closing the offering following an eight month “trial period” on the basis it was costing the airline more money than it was generating.
“Over the years, customers have asked for a Ryanair members scheme, so we trialled this Prime scheme over the last eight months,” Mr Brady said.
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“To date, we have signed up over 55,000 Prime members, generating over €4.4 million in subscription fees. However, our Prime members have received over €6 million in fare discounts, so this trial has cost more money than it generates.”
The Irish airline had said customers fully availing of the service and booking a maximum permitted 12 flights a year could potentially save up to five times the subscription cost, while even those booking three flights could more than cover their €79 outlay.
Ryanair said on Friday that all existing 55,000 Prime members will “continue to enjoy exclusive monthly low fare offers” until October 2026, but “no new members will be allowed to sign up”.
“This level of memberships, or subscription revenue does not justify the time and effort it takes to launch monthly exclusive Prime seat sales for our 55,000 Prime members,” said Mr Brady.
“We are grateful to our 55,000 Prime members who signed up to this Prime trial over the last eight months, and they can rest assured that they will continue to enjoy exclusive flight and seat savings for the remainder of their 12-month membership.
“With over 207 million passengers this year, Ryanair will continue to focus on delivering the lowest fares in Europe to all our customers, and not this subset of 55,000 Prime members.”
