Four low cost carriers including Ryanair and easyJet are in receipt of penalty of over 150 million euros ($163 million) by Spain for practices deemed abusive, and charging passengers for hand luggage, according to consumer groups who lead a six-year campaign against the charges.
As per consumer rights association Facua, Consumer Rights Ministry has also fined the carriers for forcing passengers to pay to choose seats so they can sit with family members or other dependents and not accepting cash when selling tickets at airports.
Spanish airlines Volotea and Vueling, part of the International Airlines Group that also owns British Airways and Iberia among others, were the other two budget carriers that were slapped with fines, said Facua, which has campaigned against the fees.
Facua Secretary General Ruben Sanchez said in a statement,
"It has been almost six years of battling to get the authorities to act against practices whereby airlines have been illegally inflating their profits and we have finally succeeded,"
"This is exactly what we are campaigning for – to put an end to fraud and illegal practices," Sanchez was quoted as saying to journalists in Seville by Deutsche Presse-Agentur (dpa).
"For the first time in our history, we can say that we are satisfied with the amount of a fine."
The investigations into various controversial rules were launched after several low-cost airlines tightened their hand luggage regulations.
According to the ministry, this violated Spanish law because services that were traditionally included in the ticket price were now charged separately.
That allowed the airlines to position themselves better in search engine results due to the low prices offered without hand luggage included, the ministry said last year.
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Four practices used by the airlines has come under scrutiny. These were:
The fines total over 150 million euros, with some airlines ordered to pay more than others. Irish no-frills carrier Ryanair, which was the first to start charging extra for hand luggage in November 2018, was slapped with the biggest fine, Facua said without specifying the amount.
Ryanair is also being sanctioned for charging clients €20 to print out boarding passes. Vueling received the second largest fine, followed at a greater distance by easyJet and Volotea, it added.
Spain's aviation industry body ALA - which says it represents more than 60 airlines operating in the EU - criticized the decision, which in practice amounts to a ban on the hand baggage fees charged by some airlines.
The airlines will appeal the fines, which "seem to us absolutely disproportionate," the head of ALA, Javier Gandara, told a news conference.
This will harm consumers, especially "the 50 million passengers who do not carry hand luggage in the cabin," it said in a statement.
ALA also stressed the practice was legal and European legislation recognised the freedom of airlines to set their own fares.
“This ruling means that almost 50 million passengers who do not take cabin luggage on board and only travel with hand luggage under the seat, will not benefit from paying only for essential services, as they will be forced to pay more for something they do not want.”
If the extra fees are abolished, passengers who travel without hand luggage will have to pay for services they do not need, Gandera said. Facua rejected this argument.
"The industry is trying to convey the idea that they are making the price cheaper for those who do not carry luggage, and this is false, they are illegally making the price more expensive, they are illegally enriching themselves with many millions of euros with those who do carry small hand luggage," Sanchez said.
However, Spanish broadcaster Cadena Ser reported that the airlines will be able to appeal the fine and are likely to continue with current practices.
The fine represents just 5% of the company’s earnings, all of which have reported record profits, according to Cadena Ser.
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