Ryanair, one of the pioneers in charging passengers for checking in their luggage, is going a step further with plans to charge passengers for using the airport check-in desk.

The Irish no-frills airline, which carried more than 45 million passengers in the past year, said yesterday that it would charge passengers an additional £2, or €3, if they chose to use the airport’s check-in facilities.

Customers will be able to check in free only by using the internet and taking only hand luggage. Ryanair currently charges its passengers £2 to check in online, or £4 for a return booking, but will scrap the online fee from September. Those who check in online will also be granted priority boarding rights.

Ryanair said it hoped that the new fee, which will apply for all bookings made on or after Thursday, September 20, would encourage its passengers to check in online. A spokesman said that only “a small proportion” of passengers use the service currently, which allows passengers to confirm their flight details and print a boarding pass.

He said that the charge reflected the cost of providing the facilities at the airports Ryanair used.

Passengers with reduced mobility, or who are blind or visually impaired, are required to check in at the airport, as are passengers travelling with infants and groups of more than nine people.

The airline already charges passengers £5 for every bag that they take on their flight. The charge applies to each leg of a journey. Passengers with bags weighing more than 15kg (33lb) must pay an extra £5.50 for each kilogram above the limit. While those charges do not apply to hand luggage, current Department for Transport rules restrict passengers to just one item each.

Ryanair introduced its luggage charges in March 2006, four months after its rival, Flybe, introduced similar charges. In February this year British Airways admitted that it would charge passengers extra if they split their baggage allowance into two or more bags.

Ryanair’s latest move comes just weeks after the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) acted to reveal the actual cost of the “£1 fare”. The UK competition body’s actions were driven by airlines, including Ryanair, that advertise low fares, only for additional fees to be added to boost the fare that is actually paid. The OFT demanded that all fixed, non-optional costs must be flagged up before the customer agrees to pay for their ticket.

The new check-in charge is unlikely to be covered by the OFT’s move because the customer could avoid the fee by flying without baggage and by checking-in online.