RyanAir and easyJet are getting called out for their ‘abusive’ luggage fees

Five budget airlines, including Ryanair (RYAAY+0.26%) and easyJet (EZJ+0.70%), were fined a total of 179 million euro ($186 million) on Friday for their “abusive practices,” including charging extra for additional luggage.

According to Spain’s Consumer Rights Ministry, the lion’s share of the fines will be paid by Ryanair, which was hit with a 107.7 million euro ($112 million) fine, while easyJet was penalized 29 million euros ($30 million). Spanish budget airline Vueling (IAG+0.18%) was fined 39 million euros ($40.9 million), Norweigian was fined 1.6 million euros ($1.6 million), and Spain’s Volotea was fined 1.1 million euros ($1.2 million).

The ministry said it was upholding fines first announced in May over the companies’ practices, noting that the airlines’ appeals were rejected. The airlines should now stop requiring customers to pay an additional fee for reserving seats for dependents and children, as well as end their practice of charging additional fees for cabin luggage, according to the ministry.

The ministry also criticized the companies’ “misleading omissions of information and lack of clarity” concerning the prices posted on their websites, as well as third-party providers, and charging customers for printing boarding passes. Ryanair was hit with a separate sanction for charging users a “disproportionate amount” for printing tickets at boarding terminals.

Ryanair said it had instructed its attorneys to appeal the ministry’s “unlawful and unfounded” fines, saying that its policies have been approved in European Union and Spanish court hearings.

“These illegal and unfounded fines, invented by the Spanish Ministry of Consumption for political reasons, clearly violate EU law,” Ryanair CEO Michael O’Leary said in a statement. “For many years, Ryanair has used baggage and check-in fees at airports to modify passenger behavior, transforming this into cost savings for consumers in the form of lower fares.”

Spain’s Association of Airlines (ALA), which represents 71 national and international airlines, slammed the fines as “nonsense” and “manifestly illegal,” confirming that the group of airlines would appeal. ALA President Javier Gándara said the ministry’s actions would force almost 50 million passengers who don’t travel with cabin luggage to subsidize that service for the customers who do through higher prices.