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RYANAIR boss Michael O’Leary has vowed to crack down on agents charging service fees on the airline’s fares.

The controversial chief executive claimed the fees go against the carrier’s low-cost ethos and make fares appear expensive.  

O’Leary said: “I want those agents stopped. We will do everything in our power to stop them booking our fares.”

The move signals a U-turn by the airline, which has always turned a blind eye to agents charging fees because it doesn’t pay commission. Many charge a service fee of between £15 and £30 on Ryanair tickets.

Now, O’Leary said he is happy for the trade to book flights as long as they don’t charge a fee or the flight is part of a package put together by the agent.

His call came as the airline launched a customer service charter to counter recent bad press over the carrier’s treatment of passengers.

The charter lists 19 customer promises, including beating competitors on fares at all times, allowing passengers to change flight details and providing refunds in seven days.

However, speaking at the launch, O’Leary predicted the airline would never work with the trade again and laid the blame on ABTA.

He said: “I regret we no longer have a relationship with the trade but you can blame the idiots at ABTA for that. They seem to think it’s still the 1960s.

“They’re just a bunch of people who want to spend 14 days on a jolly in Egypt moaning about the state of the industry but not doing much about it.”

An ABTA spokesman said: “We won our court case and he lost - people tend to become bitter when they lose.”