BarcelonaThe Ministry of Social Rights, Consumer Affairs and Agenda 2030, headed by Pablo Bustinduy, has sanctioned five airlines (Ryanair, Vueling, Easyjet, Norwegian and Volotea) for abusive practices, such as charging supplements for the hand luggage or to reserve adjacent seats to accompany dependents.
The highest penalty is for Ryanair with more than 107 million, followed by Vueling, with 39 million; Easyjet, with 29; Norwegian, with 1.6 million and Volotea 1.2 million practically, according to sources from the ministry itself. And the gesture is not minor: it is the first time that a firm sanction classified as very serious has been imposed by the General Administration of the State in the field of consumption, whose ministry acquired sanctioning competence in June 2022.
The sanctions also include the express prohibition of continuing with the practices that have been sanctioned. Among the bad practices most highlighted by the ministry is that of demanding the payment of a supplement for the transport of hand luggage in the cabin, the extra cost in the ticket price to reserve side seats in the case of minors or persons dependents and their companions and for not allowing payment in cash at Spanish airports.
Also for imposing a disproportionate and abusive fee on passengers for printing the boarding pass, misleading omissions of information and lack of clarity in the prices published both on its own website and on third parties, making it difficult to compare offers of prices to consumers and decision-making by them. In the case of Ryanair, in addition, a practice is sanctioned for which users are charged a disproportionate amount to print the ticket at the terminal when they do not have one.
Consum explains that to guarantee the proportionality and effectiveness of the sanctions imposed, as well as their deterrent effect, the calculation of the sanctions has been carried out using the criterion of the illicit profit obtained, that is to say, calculating the fine on the basis of the profits obtained by the airlines for the infringing practices,
As established by the Consumer sanctioning regime for practices classified as very serious, the sanctions imposed could reach between six and eight times the illicit profit obtained.
