Alex Trelinski
THE European Commission will investigate fines of €179 million imposed on five budget airlines, including Ryanair, for abusive practices.
The penalties were announced last November by the Ministry of Consumer Affairs over hand-luggage charges and reserving adjacent seats for family members.
Ryanair was hit with a fine of over €107 million, followed by €39 million imposed on Vueling, €29 million on EasyJet, €1.6 million on Norwegian and €1.1 million on Volotea.
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On Wednesday, Ryanair chairman Michael O’Leary branded the Consumer Affairs minister, Pablo Bustinduy as a ‘crazy communist’.
“He believes that passengers can carry as much luggage as they want. And no, they can’t,” fumed O’Leary, who said the fines were ‘illegal’.
Pablo Bustinduy fired back, saying: “Ryanair’s strategy involves blackmail, pressure and also insults to pursue its objectives- to boost its profits.”
The EU probe has been launched in response to a complaint filed by the airline associations A4E, IATA and ERA.
An European Commission spokesperson said: “Although the Commission generally supports consumer protection measures that comply with the rules of the EU internal market, these must respect the freedom and transparency of prices.”
“The Commission also supports the principle of price freedom under the Air Services Regulation, which has reduced the costs of air services for consumers by allowing airlines to compete more effectively through various pricing strategies and personalized product offers,” he continued.
Talks started with Spain earlier this week, according to the spokesperson with the so-called EU Pilot mechanism.
“This is an informal exchange of information of possible non-compliance with EU legislation,” the spokesperson added.
The dialogue allows the Commission to ‘assess whether there are grounds for initiating a formal infringement procedure’.
If the Consumer Ministry cannot persuade Brussels to its way of thinking, the next stage of the process would be the formal opening of a sanctioning procedure against Spain for violating EU law.
The procedure allows the EU to ask Spain’s government to back down, and if need be take the matter to European Union Court of Justice of the European Union.
In 2023, the European Parliament approved a non-binding resolution calling for a legal reform to establish uniform standards throughout the EU on the size of hand luggage that air passengers can take, as well as on the price of this service.
The resolution was never followed up by EU bosses.
