Spanish court bans Ryanair's hand luggage fee

A Spanish court on Wednesday ruled Ryanair could no longer charge an extra fee for hand luggage in the Iberian country.

The court termed it "abusive" after a passenger complained following a trip from Madrid to Brussels. She then took the airline to court over the incident after airline staff forced her to pay €20 ($22) to bring her 10 kilogram (22 pound) luggage on board.

The court ordered the Dublin-based airline to refund her the €20 plus interest, but turned down the passenger's request for an additional €10 in compensation.

Read more: Ryanair risks loss if Boeing 737 Max remains grounded

Immediate change

The ruling, which cannot be appealed, means the budget airline's cabin baggage policy is now null and void and states the airline must "remove it" from its terms and conditions.

Until now, Ryanair only allows small bags into the cabin if they can be placed under the seat in front, but larger bags of up to 10 kilograms incur a fee, or a priority boarding pass which customers must also pay for.

In November 2018, the Federation of German Consumer Organizations (vzbv) accused Ryanair of providing misleading information and insufficient pricing information about its cabin bag policy.

Possible flouting of the new ruling

The Irish company hinted that it may ignore the Spanish court's decision when it released a statement in response saying: "This ruling will not affect Ryanair's baggage policy, as it misquoted the (European Court of Justice) and misinterpreted the airlines’ commercial freedom to determine the size of their cabin baggage."

When asked if it was planning to carry on regardless or appeal the ruling in the European Court of Justice, the airline declined to comment.

jsi/aw (AFP, Reuters)

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