The pressure on airlines to stop charging for carry-on luggage is mounting. This time it is the Generalitat of Catalonia, through the Agència Catalana del Consum, which puts the spotlight on this increasingly widespread practice among companies. The organization has begun to impose sanctions for this reason and will maintain surveillance both ex officio and through possible complaints from those affected to try to avoid paying supplements for carrying the suitcase in the cabin.
"The Agency considers that this practice is abusive and that it violates the rights of consumers," remarked its director, Albert Melià, this Thursday when presenting the balance of the complaints and actions managed in the airline sector over the last three years.
Consum is protected by Spanish air navigation regulations, which, according to its interpretation, prevent charging for hand luggage. "As long as the European Union does not regulate this issue and establish clear and common criteria for all companies, we will continue to sanction this practice," added Melià. Of course, they will only be able to do so on domestic flights, where Spanish regulations apply. not so in the international ones.
The debate is open in the EU. Recently, the European Parliament passed a non-binding resolution urging the Commission to prohibit airlines from charging extra for this baggage. The community executive body, however, has not yet addressed the matter. For its part, the Ministry of Consumer Affairs opened a file this August against several airlines for this reason.
The Agència Catalana del Consum has imposed sanctions for a total value of 706,808 euros between 2021 and 2023 on 18 airlines operating in Catalan airports for violating passenger rights, in addition to managing 4,781 claims for incidents. Most of these are related to flight cancellations, delays and carry-on baggage charges. Vueling is the company that accumulates the most complaints (1,384), followed by Ryanair (1,115), although they are the companies that transport the most passengers by far. Vueling alone moved 43 million passengers in El Prat, where it has a 42% market share, in the period analyzed by Consum. They are followed by Iberia (251 complaints), TAP Air Portugal (144), Easyjet (110) and Norwegian (101).
Charging for cabin bags is an important line of business for airlines, the cornerstone of these companies' income from what is known as complementary services (everything that is not strictly the flight). These reached 102 billion dollars last year, 15% of the total turnover of companies around the world, indicates a recent report by the consulting firm OAG.
Javier Gándara, president of the ALA airline association, defends that European legislation allows companies to set their rates freely. He also maintains that charging for hand luggage “gives passengers choice, because they pay for the services they actually use.” The unbundling of services in airline tickets, he adds, has made flying “more affordable.”
