The hidden charges being levied on flights by airline companies have been described as a game of "cat and mouse" between carriers and their customers.
According to Peter Morris, chief economist at aviation information consultancy Ascend, these extra costs are adding an "element of unpredictability" in booking flights, which in turn has led to resentment amongst passengers.
The verdict by Mr Morris was in response to claims by budget carrier Ryanair that they are charging customers more to check-in because an increasing number of passengers wish to complete this process online .
"It’s basically a cost trade-off measure by trying to force a larger number of people to self-handle," he explained.
"Much of what’s being done is the unbundling of services so that if you want service A or service B you now have to pay for it, whereas in the case of the more traditional network carriers, many of these things are swept up into the total price."
The economist added that many people are put-off by this system as during the booking process they find themselves liable for extra add-on fees, which they hadn’t expected.
Last month, Ryanair announced that it was increasing the check-in charges per passenger from £3 to £4 and also charging customers an extra £2 for putting a bag in the hold, from £6 to £8.
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