Alex Trelinski
A COURT in north-west Spain has ordered Ryanair to payback €147 in cabin luggage fees to a passenger who flew five times between 2019 and 2024.
The judge in Salamanca, Raquel Martinez Marco, ruled that ‘hand luggage is an indispensable part of a passenger journey and therefore cannot be subject to a supplementary fee’.
Her decision repeated a 2014 verdict by the EU High Court which also referred to hand luggage as indispensable for travellers.
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It’s the latest victory for claimants going to court in Spain over luggage charges imposed by the budget Irish carrier.
The Salamanca challenge was brought against Ryanair by Yolanda Garrido Legarreta- a member of Spain’s Consumer Association, Facua.
Yolanda and her daughter travelled with the airline between March 2019 and March 2024.
On each occasion they had to pay a ‘priority boarding’ supplement so that they could take their cabin luggage with them- something the judge viewed as a ‘right’.
Ryanair never responded to a refund request from Yolanda and Facua, who took the matter to court.
Facua also filed a complaint with Spain’s Ministry of Consumer Affairs, which last November fined low cost airlines €179 million for hand luggage charges.
The biggest penalty of over €100 million went to Ryanair with all of the carriers launching an appeal.
