Ryanair, Vueling, Easyjet, Norwegian and Volotea are fined 179 million euros for abuse

The Spanish government’s Ministry of Consumer Affairs has fined five airlines (Ryanair, Vueling, Easyjet, Norwegian and Volotea) 179 million euros for abuses such as charging hand luggage fees or reserving adjacent seats for escort of dependent persons. people.

The highest penalty is for Ryanair with 107,775,777 euros, followed by Vuelingwith 39,264,412; Easyjetwith 29,094,441; Norwegianwith 1,610,001 euros, and Volotea with 1,189,000 euros, according to ministry sources.

This is the first time that sanctions classified as very serious have been made final by the General Administration of the State in the Field of Consumption, whose ministry acquired sanctioning powers in June 2022.

The sanctions also include an express ban on continuing the punished practices.

In concrete terms, they demanded payment of a surcharge for the transportation of hand luggage in the cabin, of an additional charge on the ticket price for the adjacent seat reservation in the case of minors and dependents and their companions and for not allowing them payment in cash at Spanish airports.

Also for imposing a disproportionate and unlawful fee on passengers for printing their boarding pass. In the case of airline Ryanair, a practice of charging users a disproportionately high amount for printing the ticket in the terminal when they do not have one is also being sanctioned.

The order signed by Pablo Bustinduy confirms the sanctions proposed months ago by the General Secretariat of Consumer Affairs and Gaming and therefore the appeals filed by these companies are rejected.

Companies can submit a file controversial-administrative appeal to be submitted to the Administrative Dispute Chamber of the National Court within a period of two months. Once this period has expired and the companies have not filed an appeal with the court, the order will take effect.