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The Ministry of Social Rights, Consumer Affairs and Agenda 2030 has fined Ryanair, easyJet, Vueling and Volotea 150 million euros for “abusive practices” when charging for hand luggage. The penalty is based on the infringements of extra charges for booking an adjacent seat to accompany minors or dependents, charging for the transport of hand luggage, being “opaque” in the pre-contractual information on the price of the service, the prohibition of payment in cash and a supplement of 20 euros for reprinting the boarding card at the airport, as reported by OCU.
The Airline Association (ALA) considers that this “will harm consumers” by removing the option for passengers to purchase exactly what they need. Therefore, those who travel only with luggage under the seat “could not benefit” from lower costs. Facua also explains that the biggest sanction has been handed out to Ryanair, the first of these companies to start charging for hand luggage in November 2018. It is followed by Vueling and “at a much greater distance” by easyJet and Volotea.
These are the first fines imposed by the Spanish government’s consumer authority since it took over sanctioning powers in May 2022 following the modification of the general law for the defence of consumers. In addition, the penalties “are also the highest ever applied by an authority” for consumer protection, according to Facua, which stresses that the one imposed on Ryanair “multiplies by far” the highest penalties.
In June 2023, consumer affairs opened proceedings to investigate whether these practices were abusive or unfair and whether they contravened consumer regulations.
The airlines can appeal these sanctions.
In the meantime, Ryanair has warned "passengers travelling through UK airports" this summer that a strict rule "still applies. Ryanair has written to holidaymakers jetting off from the UK for spring and summer holidays this year, urging them to take note. The airline wrote: "Dear [customer name], We want to remind passengers that despite upcoming changes to the rule, the 100ml limit on liquids STILL APPLIES across UK airports and will begin to be phased out starting June 1 2024."
Ryanair added: "We ask all passengers travelling through UK airports in the coming months to please consult website of airport for most accurate and up to date information on the liquids policy. Please check the websites of all airports you will depart from on your trip as policies will vary."