The era of the 1p flight is drawing to a close; travellers will no longer be able to boast about paying next to nothing to jet across Europe.

But this is not the end of cheap air fares. What is changing is the way they are presented by budget airlines.

After strong criticism by passenger groups and trading standards officers, Ryanair is to follow easyJet and Flybe by quoting the total fare at all stages of the booking process on its website.

It will no longer be able to tempt people to click forward to the payment page with the incredible bargain of a 2p return flight to Barcelona. Instead, it will display the actual price, which includes at least £35 in taxes and charges, as well as a compulsory fee to cover the cost of providing wheelchairs for the disabled.

Ryanair was reluctant to make the change because it makes substantial profits from people who book flights on a whim thinking that, because they are so cheap, it does not matter whether or not they use the tickets.

About one in ten Ryanair passengers fails to turn up for a flight. In these cases, the airline keeps almost all the taxes and charges rather than passing them on to governments or airports. The European Commission has been investigating budget airline pricing policies amid concern that passengers are being deceived. It is expected to table legislation requiring all taxes and charges to be quoted throughout the booking process.

Anticipating the commission’s action, EasyJet and Flybe have moved to all-inclusive pricing in the past few weeks. Michael O’Leary, Ryanair’s chief executive, told The Times that the airline would adopt the same practice early next year, once it has changed its booking system software.

Last month, in a report on air travel, the Commons Transport Select Committee accused Ryanair of “hucksterism” for concealing the true price of its fares.

Times recommends

• Overlanding then and now
• Live Q&A: ski fitness and injury
• Get the right payment card and deny Ryanair its hefty fee