Brussels initiates proceedings against Spain for fines on airlines charging for hand luggage

Brussels – The European Commission announced on Wednesday an infringement procedure against Spain for the fine of 179 million euros that the Government imposed almost a year ago on Ryanair, Vueling, Easyjet, Norwegian, and Volotea for charging extra fees for hand luggage or reserving adjacent seats to accompany dependent persons.

Brussels considers that the Spanish Air Navigation Law restricts its freedom to set prices and gives Spanish authorities a two-month period to respond to the irregularities pointed out by the community services.

In statements sent to the media and reported by Europa Press, the Minister of Consumer Affairs, Pablo Bustinduy, deemed it “regrettable” that the European Commission “decides to interfere and intervene in this way, ignoring and turning its back on the rights of European consumers, whom it has not even listened to.”

The opening of the sanctioning file takes the form of a letter of summons that establishes a two-month dialogue period between Brussels and Madrid to resolve the differences. The document urges the Government to fully harmonize its national legislation with European legislation regarding air services that establishes the freedom of airlines to set their prices.

If unresolved, the Commission can still move to the second phase, which involves sending a reasoned opinion with a new deadline for dialogue, before embarking on the third and final stage of the process that involves elevating the case to the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU).

Sources from the Ministry of Consumer Affairs, for their part, question the Commission’s authority to act in this case and argue that the competence to decide on the viability of the sanctions or interpret community legislation lies with the EU Court of Justice (CJEU). Thus, the same sources maintain that “this file does not alter the sanctions against the five airlines.”

In a statement, Brussels recalls the ruling of the European High Court that establishes that hand luggage “should be, in principle, free,” as long as it meets reasonable weight and size requirements and also complies with applicable safety criteria. In this regard, it adds that hand luggage exceeding these “reasonable” requirements is subject to the freedom of price setting.

In this context, the community executive considers that the Spanish Air Navigation Law does not allow airlines to impose an additional charge for the transport of hand luggage, “which restricts their freedom to set prices and differentiate” between services that include or do not include a baggage allowance with greater possibilities.

Furthermore, community services consider that the fines imposed on the five airlines also violate the mentioned European regulation as their application is based on the framework of the air navigation law.

PRELIMINARY INVESTIGATION SINCE JANUARY

The case dates back to January of last year, when the European Commission established an “informal” dialogue within the framework of the ‘EU Pilot’ mechanism that marked the beginning of a preliminary investigation, following a complaint filed with Brussels by the International Air Transport Association (IATA), the European Regional Airlines Association (ERA), and Airlines for Europe (A4E).

The community executive then indicated that it generally supported consumer protection measures within the Internal Market, “as long as they comply with the freedom of price setting and price transparency.”

However, it was not until this September that the department of the Commissioner for Sustainable Transport and Tourism, Apostolos Tzitzikostas, stated that it had “sufficient information” to make a decision regarding the case, although it did not provide a timeline for it.

This consideration came after the commissioner met in his office with the CEO of Ryanair, Michael O’Leary, and spoke by phone with the Minister of Consumer Affairs, Pablo Bustinduy, who had publicly complained that the commissioner had not attended to his repeated requests for a meeting. (October 8)