The government of the Balearic Islands has called for an urgent meeting with Ryanair after the airline allegedly tried to charge passengers who took cakes onboard.
The Pastry-Wars began when two passengers at Palma de Mallorca airport reportedly tried to each carry a traditional Mallorcan pastry - ensaïmada - on board with their hand baggage.
Ryanair allegedly said that the food exceeded their cabin baggage limit was said to have demanded €45 (£38.86) each to bring the pastries onboard.
Choosing not to pay such a high fee, the passengers discarded their ensaïmadas, as reported by The Guardian.
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The Balearics’ tourism minister, Iago Negueruela, claims that a meeting has been called with Ryanair and the local pastry-makers’ association 'in order to defend local produce and avoid any kind of discrimination'.
Pep Magraner, the president of the Balearic Islands pastry-makers association, said: "All the other airlines allow passengers to take two ensaïmadas on board.
"It’s only a problem with Ryanair, but we’re talking about a lot of flights, especially to the Spanish mainland, which is the destination of most of the ensaïmadas."
LADbible has contacted Ryanair for comment.
Earlier this month, the low-cost airline announced an annual profit of 1.43 billion euros (£1.24 billion) after a bounce back in travel demand and higher fares.
The Dublin-based carrier’s profit haul for the 12 months to March 31 compares with a net loss of 355 million euros (£309 million) the previous year and comes after a 74 percent surge in passengers to 168.6 million.
It said air fares jumped 50 percent on levels seen a year earlier, to an average of 41 euros (£36).
Ryanair chief executive Michael O’Leary revealed that he was 'cautiously optimistic' that the airline can continue to grow profits modestly over the year ahead.
He also expects the ongoing recovery in travel and higher fares to help offset the fuel bill hit.
Although he still thinks the company’s annual fuel bill will increase by more than one billion euros (£869 million) because of higher oil prices.
“Despite ongoing uncertainty over the timing of Boeing deliveries, almost 15 percent unhedged fuel, limited second-quarter visibility and zero second-half fare visibility (normal at this time of year), we are cautiously optimistic that 2023-24 revenue will grow sufficiently to cover our one billion euro higher fuel bill and still deliver a modest year-on-year profit increase,” O’Leary said.
“This guidance remains heavily dependent upon avoiding adverse events during 2023-24, such as the war in Ukraine or further, repeated, Boeing delivery delays.”
The highest gains were recorded in Italy (from 27 percent to 40 percent), Poland (from 26 percent to 36 percent) and Ireland (from 49 percent to 58 percent).
Ryanair is set to operate its largest schedule this summer, with more than 3,000 daily flights.
Anish Vij