Brussels files charges against Spain for fines on airlines that charge for hand luggage
The European Commission has decided to open an infringement procedure against Spain for not fully adapting its national legislation to Union law on air services. Specifically, Brussels points out the fine of 179 million euros that Consumption imposed almost a year ago on Ryanair, Vueling Easyjet, Norwegian and Volotea for charging supplements for hand luggage or reserving adjacent seats to accompany dependent people.
The Community Executive warns that the Spanish Air Navigation Law does not allow airlines to apply additional charges for the transport of any type of hand luggage, “which restricts your freedom to set prices and differentiate between a service that includes a higher cabin baggage allowance and another that offers only the minimum amount necessary for transportation.”
From Brussels they remember that the Regulation (EC) 1008/2008 It guarantees the freedom of airlines to set their prices for the services they offer. This European standard allows companies to differentiate their rates based on different levels of service, always within the limits of competition and transparency towards the consumer.
This warning is part of the package of infractions that Brussels collects every month, with formal letters of summons that represent the first step of the infringement procedure. If it is not resolved, the Commission can still move on to the second phase, which involves sending a reasoned opinion with a new deadline for dialogue, before undertaking the third and final stage of the process that involves bringing the case to the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU).
After meeting with Bustinduy
It so happens that this file comes to light three weeks after the head of Consumer Affairs, Pablo Bustinduy, met with the European Commissioner for Transport, Apostolos Tzitzikostas, to convey his concern about your understanding with Ryanair. The truth is that the minister did not have a good taste in his mouth from that meeting when he found “certain similarities” between the arguments he has heard from the Greek conservative and the “general line of Ryanair’s interventions”. In this context, Bustinduy expressed, by telephone, his “worry about pressure“which Ryanair believes is being carried out on the Community Executive to influence the investigation that was underway to examine the legality of the Consumer fine.
It is worth remembering that the Irish airline concentrates the bulk of the 179 million euro fine that the portfolio led by Bustinduy imposed last November on five ‘low cost’ companies – Ryanair, Vueling, Easyjet, Norwegian and Volotea – for abusive practices such as charging for carrying hand luggage or for selecting adjacent seats with dependent people.
In his conversation with Tzitzikostas, Bustinduy tried to emphasize that the sanctions agreed by Consumption They comply with all procedural guarantees and preserve the legal security of the companies involved. in the file. In addition to remembering that the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) has already ruled in a ruling the right of passengers to fly with hand luggage without extra cost and that the sanctioned companies contravened that principle and other practices considered abusive by Spanish legislation.
