Spanish court rules Ryanair’s policy of charging customers £17 for carry-on baggage bigger than a backpack is ‘abusive’ – but the airline insist they won’t change their rules
- Court in Madrid ruled Ryanair’s policy of charging hand luggage fee is ‘abusive’
- Judge said €20 fee could not be levied in Spain but rejected compensation claim
- Ryanair said it would not change policy as it was a ‘misinterpreted’ ‘isolated case’
- Airline said the judge had ‘misquoted’ EU law and cited a similar case in Italy
A Spanish court has ruled budget airline Ryanair’s policy of charging a fee for hand luggage is ‘abusive’ and can no longer be levied in the country.
But despite the Madrid judge’s decision, the carrier said it will not change its stringent rules for passengers taking extra carry-on baggage.
Yesterday’s ruling stemmed from a passenger complaint over the policy, introduced last year, which charges most customers an additional fee on top of their ticket price for bringing anything more than one personal item into the cabin.
The passenger, who was travelling from Madrid to Brussels, went to court after airline staff forced her to pay €20 ($17.13) to bring her 10 kilo luggage on board.
Ryanair was ordered by the court to refund her the €20 plus interest, but rejected her demand for compensation of a further €10 (£8.56) for the suffering she experienced, according to court documents.
Ryanair said it would not be changing its policy on cabin luggage fees, despite a court in Madrid ruling they were ‘abusive’. Pictured are passengers in Valencia lined up to check in during a crew strike held in several European countries last year
A Ryanair passenger complained over the firm’s luggage policy, introduced last year, which charges an additional fee for bringing anything more than one personal item into the cabin
The judge ruled that the woman’s hand luggage, by its size and weight, could be easily carried in the cabin, pointing to a Spanish regulation that allows passengers to take hand luggage on board at no additional cost.
Ryanair was also ordered to remove the extra baggage fee clause from its terms and conditions.
Irish carrier Ryanair said the company will not change its policy on baggage fees despite the judge’s decision as it was an ‘isolated case’ in a lower court in Madrid.
A spokeswoman added that Ryanair is not ignoring the ruling, but cited an earlier ruling in an Italian court that said the charges complied with EU law.
She told MailOnline: ‘This ruling will not affect the validity of Ryanair’s baggage policy, either in the past or in the future.
‘It is an isolated case which misquoted the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) and misinterpreted our commercial freedom to determine the size of our cabin baggage.’
In her ruling the Spanish judge characterised the charge as ‘abusive’, adding that it ‘curtailed the rights that the passenger has recognised by law’, and declared it invalid in Spain.
A Spanish court yesterday ordered Ryanair to refund a customer who was charged for taking a carry-on bag without a special ticket, ordering the airline to remove the clause from its terms and conditions. Pictured (above) passengers boarding in Milan
But she rejected the demand for compensation, saying that while doubtless ‘the passenger suffered rage and powerlessness in having to pay the extra unforeseen cost at the time of boarding’ the discomfort did not reach a level that would justify compensation.
Last month the Italian Regional Court of Lazio ruled against the Italian Competition Authority (AGCM) and annulled fines imposed on low-cost airlines Ryanair and Hungary’s Wizz Air for their cabin bag policies.
In March Italy’s AGCM had fined Ryanair €13 million and Wizz Air €1 million for ‘deceiving’ customers into paying extra for flights, but this was reversed by the court.
Ryanair said the court found the policy to be ‘transparent and fully compliant with CJEU jurisprudence and EU law’.
When asked if it was planning to appeal the ruling made in Madrid at the European Court of Justice, Ryanair declined to comment.
The court said in a statement that its ruling cannot be appealed.
Earlier this month, it emerged Ryanair made £7.7 million in extra charges from passengers in carry-on fees over the summer.
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