Five airlines, two of which serve Algeria, were heavily sanctioned in Spain. Indeed, on Friday November 22, the Spanish government imposed a fine of 179 million euros on five low-cost airlines, accused of abusive practices towards passengers.
Receipt of a complaint in May 2024 by a local consumer association, the Spanish Ministry of Consumer Affairs decided to sanction five low-cost airlines for abusive practices, particularly in the invoicing of hand luggage. A formula that takes the user-pays concept to its climax with supplements that represent up to 40% of the total price of the trip.
This decision, announced Friday by the Ministry of Consumer Affairs, primarily targets the Irish company Ryanair, which faces a fine of 107.7 million euros. Two airlines serving Algeria from France and Spain, namely Vueling and Volotea, are also sanctioned with respective fines of 39.3 million and 1.2 million euros. The two other companies Easyjet (29.1 million) and Norwegian (1.6 million) are not spared by this measure.
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Vueling and Volotea fined for abusive practices
According to the same ministry, these five low-cost companies were fined for abusive practices. They are accused of charging for passengers' hand luggage, but also for making travelers pay for the choice of seat when they accompany dependent people, such as the disabled or children. The fine also includes the ban decided by these companies on paying in cash for the purchase of tickets and the introduction of a fee deemed “disproportionate and abusive” for the printing of boarding passes at airports.
“This sanction sends a very clear message, which is that no company, however large or powerful it may be, is above the law,” assured the Minister of Consumer Affairs, Pablo Bustinduy, by making these fines public. . The practices highlighted concern “millions of people” and “have been denounced for years by consumer associations”, he continued. However, “we cannot tolerate economic models being based on the violation of consumer rights,” he insisted.
The Spanish consumer association Facua, at the origin of the procedure, welcomed the government's “historic” decision in a press release. She affirmed that “these sanctions are the highest ever applied by a consumer protection authority” in Spain, specifying that “users” could “claim reimbursement” of the additional costs imposed in recent years by these companies.
