Ryanair said today it will appeal a fine of €108m from Spain's Consumer Affairs Ministry over the airline's baggage policies.
Spain's Consumer Rights Ministry today fined budget airlines Ryanair, EasyJet, Vueling, Norwegian and Volotea a combined €179m for practices such as charging for cabin luggage, it said today.
The ministry upheld the fines that were announced in May and dismissed the appeals lodged by companies.
It said in a statement the airlines violated customer rights when charging for larger carry-on luggage, picking seats or boarding pass printouts and not allowing cash payments at check-in desks or to buy items on board.
Ryanair was fined €108m, while IAG's low-cost unit Vueling was fined €39m, EasyJet €29m, Norwegian €1.6m and Volotea €1.2m.
The fines are a challenge to budget airlines' business models, which hinge on charging rock-bottom fees for tickets and adding supplemental fees for things like larger carry-on bags that were previously not charged by traditional airlines.
Ryanair said it had instructed its lawyers to immediately appeal Spain's "unlawful and baseless" baggage fines.
The airline noted that its bag policies have already been approved in multiple Spanish and EU Court hearings - including most recently in the Barcelona Courts of Spain.
Ryanair group chief executive Michael O'Leary said that these "illegal and baseless" fines have been invented by Spain's Consumer Affairs Ministry for political reasons, and are clearly in breach of EU law.
"Ryanair has for many years used bag fees and airport check-in fees to change passenger behaviour and we pass on these cost savings in the form of lower fares to consumers," Michael O'Leary said.
"These illegal Spanish fines, which are based on an ancient 1960s law which predated Spain joining the EU, would destroy the ability of low cost airlines to pass on cost savings to consumers via lower fares," he said.
"The success of Ryanair and other low fare airlines in Spain and across Europe in recent years is entirely due to Europe’s Open Skies regime and the freedom of airlines to set prices and policies without interference from national Governments which is what today's illegal Spanish fines are," he added.
Spanish airlines industry group ALA also said it will appeal the fine in court.
ALA called the ministry's decision "nonsense" and said it violated free market rules and European Union rules.
It applied, it said the ruling would force as many as 50 million passengers, who travel with a small bag, to pay for services they do not need.
