Europe looks set to align hand baggage standards with Spain

The FACUA-Consumers in Action association has welcomed the fact that the European Parliament is promoting the development and approval of a community standard similar to the one that already exists in Spain, which prohibits airlines from charging for carrying hand luggage into the cabin of airplanes, in addition to setting maximum dimensions of the packages that can be transported.

This Wednesday, the European Parliament approved a non-binding resolution in which it asks the European Commission to take advantage of the review of current legislation on air services to prohibit, throughout the EU, the charging of hand luggage in line with a ruling by the European Superior Court of Justice (CJEU) that already declared in 2014 that airlines could not demand a supplement for said luggage. The current European regulations do not include anything related to the baggage charge.

In this sense, FACUA considers it positive that the European Parliament asks Brussels for a standard similar to the one that already exists in Spain, and that it also sets maximum dimensions for the packages that can be transported to avoid interested interpretations by the airlines, which currently even charge extra for any luggage that does not fit under the seat.

The association recalls that, in Spain, the Air Navigation Law of 1960 recognises the right to travel without added cost with the necessary hand luggage, provided that its dimensions are reasonable, to passengers who contract flights from Spain originating or destination in that country. This regulation also provided for the creation of a subsequent regulation that would develop maximum dimensions, which was never approved.

The various complaints by FACUA against airlines for charging for hand luggage, thus violating Spanish regulations, have recently caused the Ministry of Consumer Affairs to open sanctioning proceedings against several of them, including Ryanair, Vueling, Easyjet and Volotea.

In its writings, the association pointed out that the violation of the Air Navigation Law also represented a violation of the consumer protection law, considering the imposition of these extra charges as abusive clauses.

Thus, the Air Navigation Law states that “the carrier will be obliged to transport free of charge in the cabin, as hand luggage, the objects and packages that the traveller carries with them.” It only considers as exceptions “safety reasons, linked to the weight or size of the object in relation to the characteristics of the aircraft.”

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