Spain has stirred up a new fight with a group of budget airlines, fining them a total of €179 million for “abusive practices,” including charging for carry-on baggage and charging to reserve seats for children to sit with parents.
The bulk of the fines, €107.8 million, was levied on Ryanair, the biggest of the group as well as the first to have started charging for carry-ons, in November 2018. The others fined were Vueling, €39.3 million, EasyJet, €29.1 million, Norwegian Air €1.6 million and Volotea, €1.2 million. Ryanair was also dinged for charging passengers to print boarding passes.
The fines, first announced in May, were appealed by the airlines, but the government has now turned down the appeals. The airlines have vowed to take to EU courts with their appeals. Michael O’Leary, Ryanair CEO was especially vocal, saying that “These illegal and baseless fines have been invented by Spain’s Consumer Affairs Ministry for political reasons, and are clearly in breach of EU law.”
