The Irish airline Ryanair has responded immediately to the sanction of 179 million imposed by the Spanish Ministry of Consumer Affairs on five low-cost airlines, considering illegal charges for hand luggage or printing tickets at airports. The CEO of the company, Michael O’Leary has described the fine as “illegal, unfounded and invented by the Ministry for political reasons.”“, after which he assured that “they clearly violate the legislation of the European Union.”
For this reason, Ryanair has announced its intention to appeal all fines before the courts, considering that “they violate Regulation 1008/2008 of the European Union that guarantees the freedom of airline pricing.” To this end, the company has sent an instruction to its legal teams who will try to ensure that the penalty of 107.77 million euros imposed by the Spanish administration – the largest of all those imposed on the five affected companies – does not come to fruition.
O’Leary anticipates that the sanction proposed by Pablo Bustinduy’s department “will be annulled by the EU courts, which have repeatedly defended the right of all European airlines to set prices and policies without government interference.” Furthermore, he criticizes that the Law on which the sanction is based is from the 60s “and precedes Spain’s accession to the European Union”, whose regulations have more weight and, therefore, could reverse the decision.
The airline recalls in a statement that its luggage policies “have been approved in multiple judicial hearings, both in Spain and in European courts, the most recent being in the courts of Barcelona.” At the same time, it defends that its business model, which includes charging for luggage or for checking in at the airport, “modifies the behavior of passengers and allows these savings to be passed on to consumers in the form of lower fares.”
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