Brussels, 18/09/2014 (Agence Europe) - So-called “low cost” airlines will be able to continue to charge for registered luggage in addition to the ticket prices paid, without fear of prosecution in the European courts. The European Court of Justice has just delivered a ruling (case C-487/12) on Thursday 18 September, which states that EU legislation opposes any national legislation that compels airlines to transport passengers and their registered luggage for the price of the flight ticket, without any supplementary charges. This does not, however, apply to hand luggage.
The Court drew this conclusion after examining Spanish legislation, which bans airlines from making supplementary charges on passengers' luggage and does not allow for the setting of different prices whether there is luggage of this sort or not. These bans are ultimately incompatible with EU law because the transport of registered luggage cannot be considered as obligatory or indispensable to the transport of passengers, according to the European judges.
The Court put forward the following arguments: - commercial models are changing (e.g. with the arrival of low-cost companies), as have passengers' habits (luggage-free travel); the transport of luggage is an important factor in the cost of services and, as such, companies must be free to set prices as they see fit; - such a ban ultimately makes it difficult to effectively compare prices - a requirement under EU legislation - because the only ones affected by this ban would be the airlines from a member state that imposes a ban of this kind. (JK)