The cost of using a debit or credit card to book flights with some airlines has gone up by over 600 per cent in 18 months, according to new research from Which? Holiday.

Ryanair charges 614 per cent more than it did 18 months ago for debit card transactions -excluding Visa Electron- increasing fees from 70p to £5 per person each way, while using a credit card has gone from £2 to £5 per person each way.

It now costs 471 per cent more to use a debit card to pay for a flight with Wizz compared to 18 months ago. In February 2007 the fee levied for using a debit card was 70p per person each way, but the airline now charges £4 per person each way.

Thomas Cook UK now charges £10 per booking for using a debit card and First Choice customers pay £2.50, when 18 months ago neither airline levied a charge.

Which? Holiday found that it’s not all bad news for consumers, however. 18 months ago, bmiBaby levied a one per cent charge for paying with a debit card, but now there’s no charge. Virgin Atlantic has changed its policy to charge 1.3 per cent of the total booking for credit card payments, instead of £3 per person. On a booking costing £300 for two adults this amounts to a saving of over £2. BA doesn’t charge for using a debit card to pay for flights.

Some airlines (Easyjet, First Choice, Flybe, Jet2, Monarch, Ryanair and Thomson Airways) do not charge for using Visa Electronalso have a policy of not charging a fee for using a Visa Electron card.

Lorna Cowan, editor or Which? Holiday, says: “We understand that there is a charge to airlines for taking payment for flights with debit or credit cards and that this cost will be passed on to consumers. But how can some of these airlines justify charging over 600 per cent more than they did 18 months ago?

“The amount charged by the airlines should be reflective of the costs incurred by them. This does not appear to be the case with current charges, and we are concerned that airlines may be using them as a way of boosting profits.”