A Portuguese court has declared charging plane passengers for cabin baggage is illegal, in a new blow to a practice that’s becoming increasingly common among European low-cost airlines.
A consumer rights organisation that’s been supporting this and several similar cases called the decision “historic” and said it could cost cheaper airlines €10 billion ($16.5 billion) in Portugal alone.
The Braga District Court, in the country’s north, issued the ruling this week in a case brought by a Ryanair passenger who paid €56.50 to take a bag with them on a flight, according to a judgment cited by CNN Portugal.
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Judge Antonio Oliveira Mestre ruled the airline couldn’t charge extra for bags measuring up to 55x40x20cm that fit in the overhead compartment, calling it a “violation of consumer rights”.
The airline was ordered to pay the fee back to the customer but Otávio Viana, director of consumer rights association Citizen’s Voice, said the precedent set by the decision could be much more costly.
He estimated the total damage caused to customers living in Portugal by the extra fees, which are also charged by fellow low-cost carriers easyJet, Wizz Air, Volotea and Vueling, could go as high as €10 billion.
The airlines, particularly easyJet and Ryanair, are popular with Australian travellers in Europe thanks to their low cost and regular flights linking popular holiday destinations.
“In Portugal, it is the first time we have a decision of this type, but it’s not new in the European Union,” he told CNN Portugal, pointing to a European Court of Justice decision from 2014.
He said rulings in another seven similar cases his organisation was involved in would have to follow the example set by the latest ruling.
Ryanair didn’t respond to a request to comment.
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Spanish authorities fined Ryanair easyJet, Vueling and Volotea €150 million in May for violating customer rights when charging for larger carry-on luggage, according to Reuters.
The fine from the Consumer Rights Ministry, which opened an investigation in 2023, also applied to charges for picking seats, printing boarding passes and blocking cash payments, according to consumer rights associations OCU and Facua.
European Parliament members have been pushing for standardised rules on cabin baggage across the 27-nation bloc, including for the 2014 ruling to be recognised.
That decision found a Spanish law forcing airlines to carry checked-in baggage without a surcharge infringed EU law.
But it also ruled that hand baggage must be considered a necessary item for passengers.
Consequently, the carriage of hand baggage cannot be made subject to a price supplement, provided that it meets reasonable requirements in terms of its weight and dimensions and complies with applicable security requirements,” the court found.
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