Scratchcard bungle costs Ryanair $52,500

Ryanair has launched an inquiry after three passengers on the same flight each won a car worth £11,500 ($A17,500) after playing its in-flight scratchcard game.

The three passengers, who were flying from Milan to Madrid last Monday, won the prize after buying one of the airline's £2 scratchcards, despite an average of one car being won each month.

The airline blamed a printing error by Brandforce, the company which runs the game, but has promised that all three winners will receive their vehicles.

Ryanair began selling scratchcards in 2008 in an attempt to further increase its additional or "ancillary" revenues. Around a quarter of the airline's annual earnings are generated by ancillary revenues. Its extra charges, including check-in fees, booking fees and luggage charges, have increased by up to 700 per cent since 2006.

Last month, Ryanair was criticised for imposing an additional £2 charge on all bookings to insure itself against flight cancellations, while next month it will allow passengers to reserve individual seats for the first time, at a cost of £8.80 per person per flight, on services from Dublin Airport to Gatwick and Malaga.

The Telegraph, London