A 19-year-old from the UK flying to Ibiza on his holidays found it was cheaper to change his name, than pay Ryanair to correct a mistake on his plane ticket.

The teenager required a name change after his girlfriend's stepfather accidentally booked a flight under the wrong name.

Adam Armstrong was to be charged a £110 (around €150) administration fee to make the change.

Instead, The Sun reported that Adam changed his name by deed poll and paid for a new passport.

The teenager found changing his identity only cost him £103 (€140) - a €10 saving over the name change fee.

He is now officially called Adam West - the same as the actor who played Batman in the TV series - which was his profile name on Facebook.

In a statement, Ryanair said that the teenager would have had to pay £110 for the name change - their standard rate - and dismissed earlier media reports that he would have had to pay twice because his girlfriend was under the same booking. The airline has clarified that the bookings were separate, so only one charge would have applied.

The company said, “customers are asked to ensure that the details they enter at the time of booking are correct before completing their booking and we offer a 24 hour ‘grace period’ to correct minor booking errors.

"A name change fee is charged in order to discourage and prevent unauthorised online travel agents from ‘screenscraping’ Ryanair’s cheapest fares and reselling them on to unwitting consumers at hugely inflated costs," the airline added.

Originally posted at 9.25am