RYANAIR has introduced a £2 handling charge for booking its flights by credit card.

The new fee, which came into effect on Monday, is the first such charge to be introduced by an Irish based airline and has been strongly criticised by the Consumers' Association of Ireland.

The Director of Consumer Affairs, Mr William Fagan, has already expressed concerns about such booking fees and has made recommendations to the Government about them.

The £2 handling charge, according to Ryanair, has been adopted to meet the costs imposed on the airline by credit card companies for processing sales. However, a spokeswoman stressed that unlike credit card booking fees at many cinemas and theatres, where customers are charged a fee on each ticket booked, the new charge will only be levied on each credit card transaction.

The charge could raise up to £1 million for Ryanair over the next 12 months, with industry sources estimating that up to 25 per cent of the airline's passengers book flights using credit cards.

Last year Ryanair reported carrying over two million passengers on its British and European routes.

However, the Consumer Association of Ireland has reacted angrily to the introduction of the new charge.

Yesterday, a spokesman said there was "no reason" for companies to charge booking fees to customers. "There is no justification for the charge," he said.

Ryanair, like other companies which levy booking fees, can, under present legislation, arbitrarily adopt these charges once customers are made aware of the additional cost when reserving tickets.

Mr Fagan said yesterday he continued to have problems with the way these charges are presented to the public and has made recommendations to the Minister for State, Mr Pat Rabbitte, to insist that all additional charges are included in advertisements.