An EU consumer group has filed a complaint to the European Commission and the Consumer Protection Cooperation Network (CPC) denouncing seven airlines charging undue fees to consumers for their hand baggage.
The BEUC is an umbrella group for 44 independent consumer organisations from 31 countries. Its main role is to represent them to the EU institutions and defend the interests of European consumers. Its acronym originates from its French name, ‘Bureau Européen des Unions de Consommateurs’.
The seven airlines against which the BEUC has raised a complaint include:
- Easyjet (UK/Austria)
- Norwegian Airlines (Norway)
- Ryanair (Ireland)
- Transavia (France)
- Volotea (Spain)
- Vueling (Spain)
- Wizzair (Hungary)
The EU Court of Justice ruled in 2014 that carriage of hand baggage cannot be made subject to a price supplement, provided that it meets reasonable requirements in terms of its weight and dimensions and complies with applicable security requirements.
Harmonising rules on hand baggage will allow better transparency and price comparability for passengers and ensure legal certainty. It will also have a positive impact for airports, the group said.
“Haven’t we all experienced the fear of our hand baggage not fitting in the airline’s sizers and being charged extra fees? Today we are taking action against seven airlines who are exploiting consumers and are ignoring the EU top court who ruled that charging reasonably sized hand baggage is illegal,” said Agustín Reyna, Director General of BEUC.
This was confirmed by recent fines in Spain which made clear that passengers can bring their reasonably sized hand baggage onboard at no additional cost, he said.
“In addition to our European action, the ongoing revision of the Air Passenger Rights regulation is the perfect opportunity for the EU to clarify what services should be included in the basic ticket price.
“Our data shows that consumers expect to see a small item and a piece of hand luggage when buying basic tickets. Policymakers should also define hand luggage’s ‘reasonable size and weight’ to avoid surprises at the airport and ultimately reduce the number of disputes costing consumers and airlines time and money.”
Leave a Reply