AN UMBRELLA GROUP for European consumer organisations has called for an EU-wide investigation into seven airlines – including Ryanair – for charging “undue fees” for hand baggage.

BEUC, the European Consumer Organisation, this week filed a complaint to the European Commission and the EU’s Consumer Protection Network against the seven airlines for “exploiting consumers”.

Agustín Reyna, Director General of BEUC, said the airlines are “ignoring the EU top court who ruled that charging reasonably sized hand baggage is illegal”.

In addition to Ryanair, the other airlines targeted include Easyjet, Norwegian Airlines, Transavia, Volotea, Vueling and Wizzair.

BEUC said that both EU law and associated case-law of the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) entitle consumers to fly with reasonably sized hand baggage without additional costs.

However, it said many airlines “continue to impose additional fees on consumers for this service”.

It noted that last year, the Spanish Ministry of Consumer Affairs imposed fines on airlines for a total of €179m in relation to fees on hand baggage.

While BEUC acknowledges that the decision was issued in Spain and mainly applies to consumers in Spain, similar practices by the same airlines and others are still taking place across Europe.

Reyna said this court decision in Spain “made clear that passengers can bring their reasonably sized hand baggage onboard at no additional cost”.

BEUC also accused airlines of using “different and inconsistent wording” in relation to luggage in order to “mislead consumers”.

Meanwhile, the CEJU has ruled that baggage that is not checked in must be considered as a necessary item for passengers and there should not be subject to a price supplement if it meets reasonable requirements in terms of weight and dimensions.

Elsewhere, Reyna remarked that data from BEUC shows that consumers “expect to see a small item and a piece of hand luggage when buying basic tickets”.

“Policymakers should define hand luggage’s ‘reasonable size and weight’ to avoid surprises at the airport and ultimately reduce the number of disputes costing consumers and airlines time and money,” he added.

In a statement to The Journal, a Ryanair spokesperson said the airline “welcomed the filing of this complaint to the EU Commission, which will confirm that Ryanair’s bags policy fully complies with EU Law, which grants all EU airlines the freedom to set prices”.

Ryanair allows each passenger to carry a 40 x 25 x 20 cm personal bag on board for free as part of its basic air fare, with the option to add extra bags for an extra fee starting at €30 per flight, and €60 if done at the airport.

While Ryanair described its personal bag allowance as “generous”, it is smaller than all the other airlines targeted by BEUC.

“If airlines were forced to include additional carry-on bags as part of the basic fare, it would reduce choice and drive-up air fares for all passengers, which would harm consumers,” said Ryanair.

Ryanair also hit out at online travel agents, who the spokesperson said “continue to induce unsuspecting consumers into paying unjustified hidden mark-ups for flights that cost much less when booked directly on airlines’ websites”.

“Outlawing these harmful OTA overcharges and enforcing transparency in OTA pricing would be a much better use of BEUC and its members’ resources,” said Ryanair.

Meanwhile, A4E (Airlines for Europe) claimed the action by BEUc “would decrease consumer choice and oblige all passengers to pay for additional services that they may not all need”.

It added that the decision of the Spanish Consumer Protection Agency on cabin bags is currently under appeal and the European Commission is looking into whether it complies with EU law.