Spain has fined four budget airlines including Ryanair and easyJet over 150 million euros ($163 million) for charging passengers for hand luggage and other practices deemed abusive, consumer groups who lead a six-year campaign against the charges said Friday.
The carriers were also fined by the Consumer Rights Ministry for forcing passengers to pay to choose seats so they can sit beside their children or other dependents and not accepting cash when selling tickets at airports, consumer rights association Facua said.
Spanish airlines Volotea and Vueling, part of the International Airlines Group that also owns British Airways and Iberia among others, were the other two budget carriers that were slapped with fines, said Facua, which has campaigned against the fees.
"It has been almost six years of battling to get the authorities to act against practices whereby airlines have been illegally inflating their profits and we have finally succeeded," Facua Secretary General Ruben Sanchez said in a statement.
"This is exactly what we are campaigning for – to put an end to fraud and illegal practices," Sanchez was quoted as saying to journalists in Seville by Deutsche Presse-Agentur (dpa).
"For the first time in our history, we can say that we are satisfied with the amount of a fine."
The fines total over 150 million euros, with some airlines ordered to pay more than others.
Irish no-frills carrier Ryanair, which was the first to start charging extra for hand luggage in November 2018, was slapped with the biggest fine, Facua said without specifying the amount.
Vueling received the second largest fine, followed at a greater distance by easyJet and Volotea, it added.
Contacted by Agence France-Presse (AFP), a consumer rights ministry spokesperson confirmed that proceedings were opened against four budget airlines a year ago which have now resulted in fines. He did not name the airlines or give the amount of the fines.
Spain's aviation industry body ALA – which says it represents more than 60 airlines operating in the EU – criticized the decision, which in practice amounts to a ban on the hand baggage fees charged by some airlines.
The airlines will appeal the fines, which "seem to us absolutely disproportionate," the head of ALA, Javier Gandara, told a news conference.
This will harm consumers, especially "the 50 million passengers who do not carry hand luggage in the cabin," it said in a statement.
The investigations into various controversial rules were launched after several low-cost airlines tightened their hand luggage regulations.
According to the ministry, this violated Spanish law because services that were traditionally included in the ticket price were now charged separately.
If the extra fees are abolished, passengers who travel without hand luggage will have to pay for services they do not need, Gandera said. Facua rejected this argument.
"The industry is trying to convey the idea that they are making the price cheaper for those who do not carry luggage, and this is false, they are illegally making the price more expensive, they are illegally enriching themselves with many millions of euros with those who do carry small hand luggage," Sanchez said.
Ryanair last week said its net profit jumped a third to 1.92 billion euros in its financial year as higher demand and fares offset ballooning fuel costs.