After several weeks of investigation, the Ministry of Consumption has finally opened a disciplinary file against several low-cost airlines that operate in Spain for charging travelers for their hand luggage carried in the cabin.
The department headed by Alberto Garzón has not published the list of affected companies. But a few months ago, when he opened the investigation, he indicated that as a whole they had a market share of over 30%, both inside and outside Europe, so their travel policies have a huge impact on passenger recruitment.
Already at the time, the Facua consumer association warned that complaints had already been filed for this type of practice against Ryanair, Vueling, easyJet, Volotea or Eurowings, which would be among those now filed.
seat reservation
In addition to the irregular charge for hand luggage, Consumption has also extended the case to the additional costs that these airlines sometimes apply to some services that were traditionally included in the price of the ticket, such as the reservation of the seat next to another passenger in the case of minors or dependent persons.
Thus, through this practice of cutting off services traditionally included in the ticket price and charging the passenger a supplement for them, these companies offer very competitive prices in their advertising. However, Consumption has detected that this price initially offered in advertising does not correspond in most cases, as a consequence of these practices, with the price that the consumer ends up paying.
The fact that they offer apparently cheaper tickets -but which later are not- also allows these low-cost companies to have a “privileged” position in search engines and flight comparators compared to other competitors, which they do include in the price of their tickets this type of services.
Consumption also denounces that the affected airlines also undertake other types of irregularities, such as not allowing cash payment at the airport for additional services, contrary to the provisions of the regulations.
The sanctions provided for these offenses can be considered serious or very serious, with fines of between 10,001 and 100,000 euros, in the case of serious ones, and between 100,001 and 1,000,000 euros, in the case of very serious ones.
“In the event that the illicit benefit obtained from the infringing practices exceeded said amounts, the sanctions imposed could reach up to between four and six times the illicit benefit obtained, for serious infringements, and between six and eight times the illicit benefit. obtained, in the case of very serious ones”, they explain from Consumption, which has sanctioning power since 2022.
The files come after an investigation opened as a result of a first complaint by Facua in October 2021 against the collection of hand luggage at Vueling. Previously, in 2018, the association had already denounced Ryanair and Wizzair before the State Agency for Aviation Safety and the National Commission for Markets and Competition (CNMC) for this reason, “without any of the two organizations communicating any type of of action in this regard,” according to the complaint.
The association warns that the offenses committed violate the Air Navigation Law, which establishes that “the carrier will be obliged to transport free of charge in the cabin, as hand luggage, the objects and packages that the traveler carries with them.”
It only contemplates as exceptions “safety reasons, linked to the weight or size of the object in relation to the characteristics of the aircraft”. Facua also insists that all “stipulations not individually negotiated and those practices not expressly consented to that cause, to the detriment of the consumer and user, a significant imbalance of the rights and parties derived from the contract” are considered abusive, among others.
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