One Ryanair customer has won their fight to be reimbursed for hand luggage costs charged on five flights between 2019 and 2024Helena Vesty NHS, social care and patients reporter and Blathin de Paor
15:40, 16 May 2025Updated 17:54, 16 May 2025
The court ruled the bags should never have cost additional fees
Ryanair has been ordered to refund a passenger £124 (€147) after a court ruled hand luggage is essential and should not incur extra fees.
The victory is being hailed as a huge success for airline customers, after a Spanish court in Salamanca ordered that a passenger must be reimbursed for hand luggage costs charged on five flights between 2019 and 2024.
The court ruled the bags should never have resulted in additional fees.
The judge said that they had based their decision on a 2014 decision by a senior European Union court. That prior decision stated that hand luggage ‘must, in principle, be considered an indispensable element of passenger transport and that its carriage cannot, therefore, be subject to a price supplement.’
The passenger’s case was backed Spanish consumer rights organisation Facua.
Article 97 of Spain’s Air Navigation law states that airlines are “obliged to transport not only the passenger, but also, and without charging anything for it, the objects and hand luggage that they carry” with them.
Speaking about the landmark case, Spanish lawyer Isaac Guijarro, said at the time that it was a ‘huge win for travellers everywhere’, reports Birmingham Live.
Speaking about the court’s decision this week he added: “It shows Ryanair can’t get away with treating passengers like walking ATMs.”
“They can only deny boarding of these items for security reasons, linked to the weight or size of the object, but in this case they were typical cabin suitcases’ that did not exceed 55x35x25cm,” he explained.
According to Ryanair’s website, the airline’s carry on bag policy is that passengers are entitled to a free small bag “which must fit under the seat in front of you” and “can be a handbag, laptop back or backpack”.
The measurement restrictions are 40cm by 20cm by 25cm. Anything above that is subject to a charge.
However in this instance, the passenger – and Spanish law – thought a standard hand luggage wheelie case of 55cm/35cm/25cm should be allowed.
The ruling has raised question marks over whether airlines will be forced to change policies to allow all standard sized cabin bags.
A Ryanair spokesperson told The Sun: “Ryanair allows each passenger to carry a generous (40 x 25 x 20 cm) personal bag on board as part of the basic air fare, with the option to add extra bags for an optional fee should they so wish.”