Tiphaine Dubuard with AFP / Photo credits: Idriss Bigou-Gilles / Hans Lucas / Hans Lucas via AFP
6:03 p.m., May 31, 2024modified to
In Spain, low-cost airlines Ryanair, Vueling, EasyJet and Volotea were fined more than 150 million euros for, among other things, charging passengers for hand luggage. Fines also penalize the billing for the choice of seat when a passenger is traveling with dependent people.
Low-cost airlines Ryanair, Vueling, EasyJet and Volotea have been fined more than 150 million euros for charging passengers, among other things, for hand luggage, consumer associations who had filed a complaint against the situation. The fines also sanction the charging of the choice of seat when a passenger travels with dependent people, such as disabled people or children, or the ban on paying in cash for the purchase of tickets at airports, indicates in a press release FACUA, one of the plaintiff associations.
The total amount of fines exceeds 150 million euros
“We have been fighting for almost six years to get the authorities to act against the practices of airlines which illegally inflate their profits, and we have finally succeeded,” rejoiced the secretary general of the airline. association, Rubén Sánchez. According to FACUA, the total amount of fines exceeds 150 million euros, and some companies are expected to pay more than others.
The company which received the heaviest fine is the Irish Ryanair, “the first to start charging for hand luggage, in November 2018”. After her comes the Spanish Vueling, which receives a significant fine, then to a lesser extent, the British EasyJet and the Spanish Volotea, according to FACUA which did not specify the exact amounts.
Sources at the Ministry of Consumer Affairs, which decided on these sanctions, confirmed to AFP that a file had been opened a year ago concerning “four low-cost airlines” and that it had given rise to sanctions, but did not want to confirm the names of the companies or the amounts.
A possible financial repercussion
This decision can be appealed, these ministerial sources indicated and the companies intend to do so, explained Javier Gándara, president of the Airlines Association (ALA). He denounced during a press conference an “absolutely disproportionate” decision. “The fact that the sanction is not yet final may lead some travelers who go to the airport to believe that this is illegal, when this is not the case,” he warned.
The removal of the billing costs mentioned (hand baggage, choice of seat, etc.) could have a financial impact on passengers who travel without hand baggage, a cost which they would have done well without, he also warned. .
An argument refuted by Rubén Sánchez, from FACUA: “The sector tries to establish the idea that they are the ones who lower the price for those who do not have cabin baggage, but this is false. They are the ones who illegally inflate prices, they enrich themselves with millions of euros illegally thanks to travelers who have hand luggage”, he declared during a press conference. FACUA encouraged consumers to request reimbursement of these additional costs and indicated that it was already preparing the defense of several cases filed.
