Budget airlines have been fined millions of euros for charging customers extra money to travel with cabin luggage and choose their seats.
Ryanair, easyJet, Vueling, and Volotea have been collectively fined €150m (around £130m) by Spain’s Consumer Rights Ministry following a year-long probe.
The fine is the largest ever penalty the ministry has issued for practices against customers.
An official breakdown of the fine is yet to be released but it is understood Ryanair has received the largest penalty, according to Spanish consumer rights organisation Facua.
The ministry launched the probe in June 2023 to investigate whether budget airlines were forcing customers to pay more for tickets than previously advertised after adding on additional costs.
Customers had previously complained to the government department about airline practices being unfair, a ministry spokesperson told the ex-pat newspaper the Olive Press, after they were asked to pay more for larger bags that exceeded a specific size, to print their boarding pass at the airport, and to choose where they wanted to sit.
Four practices were specifically identified in the ministry investigation: charging for reserved or adjoined seating to be close to small children and dependants; increasing the price for carry-on luggage; charging extra for cash payments made at the airport; and a general lack of transparency in providing information on the final ticket price before the customer pays.
When the ministry announced the investigation in 2023, it said that by separating extra fees from those traditionally included in ticket prices the four budget airlines were trying to “offer in their advertisement very competitive prices”.
The final price “does not correspond in most cases with the price that the consumer ends up paying, as a consequence of these practices,” the ministry added.
Under Spain’s laws, the ministry said the airlines cannot charge extra for carry-on luggage, and branded the practice “abusive”.
The budget carriers can appeal against the fines.
In a joint statement on their behalf, the Airline Association (ALA) said the ministry’s decision to hand down fines would “harm consumers” by removing the option for passengers to only buy what they needed with their ticket.
“This ruling means that almost 50 million passengers who do not take cabin luggage on board and only travel with hand luggage under the seat, will not benefit from paying only for essential services, as they will be forced to pay more for something they do not want,” it said.