The Traveller's Magazine
Airlines that charge passengers a fee to check in their luggage (aka, a lot of them) and make it mandatory for passengers to print their own boarding cards could find themselves in the middle of a lawsuit for not following Spanish law.
We knew it couldn’t be right for airlines, particularly low cost ones, to charge passengers to check luggage and make it mandatory to print your own boarding pass or face paying another fee. Turns out in Spain that it’s actually against the law! The Malaga Prosecution Office is on the case of about 20 airlines that fly in and out of Malaga that do this and are taking legal action against them.
The case refers to the Air Navigation Law of 1960 which states that it is in fact mandatory for airlines to transport luggage along with the passenger to an assigned destination as part of the price of the flight ticket.
Sha-bam!
It’s not news to anyone who regularly flies with a low cost airline that the rock-bottom rates also come with sacrifices: legroom, complimentary snacks, luggage restrictions, etc. These airlines rely on all the additional fees to balance out the cheap fares. In the last two years profits from these extra fees however has risen by 66% which works out to be worth around £14 billion.
The Prosecution Office will also take action again airlines that charge passengers to check-in, an essential part of air travel.
We’ll keep you posted but wouldn’t it be nice not to pay for checked luggage the next time you book flights to Malaga?
