Consumption opens disciplinary proceedings against several 'low cost' airlines for extra costs in hand luggage

Four of the companies filed are Ryanair, Vueling, Easyjet and Volotea, according to Facua

The Ministry of Consumer Affairs has opened the first disciplinary proceedings against several low-cost airlines for charging extra costs for hand luggage carried in the cabin, of which, according to Facua, four of the companies are Ryanair, Vueling, Easyjet and Volotea.

The ministry, through the General Directorate of Consumption, has extended the case to the additional costs applied to other 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. .

For its part, the consumer association has stated that "it has been denouncing these irregularities for the last five years before different regional consumer authorities."

Facua filed the first complaint with the ministry for the collection of hand luggage in October 2021, specifically against Vueling.

Previously, in 2018, it 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 either body communicating any type of action to the regard.

Thus, through this practice of "cutting off services" traditionally included in the price of the ticket and charging the passenger a supplement for them, the Ministry of Consumption has warned that "these companies offer very competitive prices in their advertising."

"This allows them to have a privileged SEO positioning in search engines and comparators compared to competitors that do include these services in the price of the ticket that is advertised in the comparator," explained the Ministry.

These practices violate article 47 of the Consolidated Text of the General Law for the Defense of Consumers and Users and are the responsibility of the Ministry of Consumer Affairs under the provisions of article 52bis section 5.

Regarding the sanctions provided, the fines can be between 10,001 and 100,000 euros, in the case of serious infractions, and between 100,001 and 1,000,000 euros in the case of very serious ones.

Likewise, in the event that the illicit benefit obtained from the infringing practices exceeded said amounts, the sanctions could reach up to between four and six times the illicit benefit obtained, for serious infractions, and between six and eight times the illicit benefit obtained in the case of the very serious.