Ryanair, Easyjet, Vueling, and Volotea are likely to appeal a historic €150m fine issued in Spain for alleged abusive practice , according to the Spanish consumer organisation OCU.
The airlines are accused of charging extra for seat reservations next to children, cabin baggage fees, lack of transparency in ticket pricing, and not accepting cash payments.
Ryanair is specifically sanctioned for charging clients to print boarding passes.
IA 2014 European court of justice ruling stipulated that hand luggage cannot be subject to additional charges as long it meets reasonable weight and size requirements, is being applied.
The Spanish airline association ALA criticised the fines as disproportionate and warned of negative impacts on consumers, while the airlines have the option to appeal the decision: “It will harm consumers by removing the option for passengers to hire exactly what they need. As a result, the 50 million or so passengers who currently do not carry cabin luggage on board and only travel with hand luggage under the seat would not be able to benefit from paying only for essential services, forcing them to purchase services they do not use.”
Agustin Reyna of the European Consumer Organisation (BEUC) said there needs to be harmonised policies across the European Union. “This is a strong and welcome signal from the Spanish authorities because unfair policies from airlines about carry-on hand luggage need to stop. Too often, consumers arrive at the airport only to be told by the airline that they have to pay extra to have hand luggage or because their bags don’t conform to the airline’s rules on size. What we now need are EU-wide standards for hand luggage policies to harmonise what airlines require of consumers and to smoothen air passengers’ experience.”
