On December 19, 2020, a Ryanair plane took off from Eindhoven Airport in the Netherlands.
Nicholas Economu | Noor Photos | Getty Images
Spain’s consumer rights ministry on Friday fined five budget airlines 179 million euros ($186 million) for “abusive practices” including charging extra carry-on baggage fees.
Ryanair took the lion’s share of the hit punishreceived a fine of 107.78 million euros. Spanish budget airline Vueling ordered to pay €39.2 million EasyJet fined 29 million euros. Scandinavia’s second-largest airline Norwegian Air and Spanish airline Volotea were each hit with fines of more than 1 million euros.
The ministry said the five airlines should stop the practice of requiring extra fees for carry-on luggage and booking seats close to dependent passengers. The airline has also been criticized for printing “disproportionate and abusive” charges for tickets, allegedly omitting or failing to clarify pricing information on its website and not allowing cash payments at Spanish airports.
Spain’s Airlines Association (ALA) said it would appeal the carry-on baggage fine in court, calling the penalty “manifestly illegal” and contrary to European norms, according to a statement from the industry group translated by CNBC.
“If implemented, the Ministry of Consumer Rights’ decision would mean irreparable harm to passengers, seeking to deprive them of the freedom to adjust their itineraries to their needs and obligating them to pay for services they may not need,” according to a CNBC translation. , said ALA President Javier Gandara.
CNBC has reached out to the airline for comment.
Ryanair said it would “immediately appeal against Spain’s illegal and unfounded baggage fines”, with chief executive Michael O’Leary saying the sanctions “were imposed for political reasons by the Spanish Ministry of Consumer Affairs and are clearly in breach of EU law”.
“The success of Ryanair and other low-cost airlines in Spain and across Europe in recent years is entirely due to Europe’s open skies regime and the freedom of airlines to set prices and policies without interference from national governments, which is why today’s illegal fine in Spain is ,” he pointed out.
Norwegian Air similarly said it would follow up with Spanish and EU authorities to dispute the accusation, noting that its baggage policy reflected its commitment to “providing safe and affordable travel.”
EasyJet said in a statement: “We completely disagree with the decision of the Spanish Consumer Ministry and find the proposed sanctions outrageous.” It stressed that the airline believes that its carry-on baggage policy complies with all applicable laws. “We will formally appeal through the courts and will vigorously defend our position.”
Budget airlines have been grappling with a range of issues, including rising fuel prices, global decarbonization and geopolitical uncertainty, after enduring a long recovery following the Covid-19 travel disruption. U.S. manufacturer’s aircraft deliveries hampered boeing company A two-month machinist strike this fall cost Ryanair more than $5 billion in losses and affected passenger traffic growth, the airline said on November 4. Downgrade Due to flight delays, its passenger volume target for fiscal 2026 is 210 million passengers, compared with the previous forecast of nearly 215 million passengers.
Last month, a global data report The low-cost airline market is expected to grow at a CAGR of over 10% between 2023 and 2028, noting that affordability is a top priority for such airlines, which implement cost-cutting measures such as additional baggage charges , – Airplane meals.
in June forecastThe International Air Transport Association noted that airline profitability, including non-budget carriers, is expected to reach a record revenue of $996 billion in 2024, an annual increase of 9.7%.
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