UK airport staff being paid bonuses for spotting oversized bags: report
A leaked email shows that UK airport staff are receiving bonuses for spotting oversized bags. The email, which has been seen by the Guardian, shows that staff at Swissport are eligible to receive £1 after tax for every gate bag.
The message was sent to staff at seven airports in the UK and the Channel Islands, including Birmingham, Glasgow, Jersey and Newcastle.
It has also emerged that ground handlers employed by another aviation firm, DHL Supply Chain, at Gatwick, Bristol and Manchester airports are also paid extra for identifying non-compliant easyJet bags, the Sunday Times reports.
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.
The European Union has since indicated that it will move to block additional fees for carry-on bags, but this change has not been implemented yet. The UK does not have such rules, but flights to and from the continent will likely be impacted.
