Members of the European Parliament have voted on and adopted today a resolution proposed by the Petitions Committee on 20 September, moving to scrap hand luggage charges and standardise carry-on dimensions for all airlines operating in the EU.
The resolution points out that airlines around the world have varying policies and restrictions regarding the size and weight of hand luggage that passengers can bring on board, which often leads to confusion, inconvenience, less comfortable travel experiences, delays and sometimes disputes between passengers and airline staff. Moreover, the different policies can lead hidden costs when a passenger uses the services of different airlines or needs to change airlines for unforeseen or practical reasons.
On-the-spot checks of the dimensions of the carry-on luggage carried out by airlines’ employees, who sometimes apply the rules in a discretional and arbitrary manner, show the redundancy of different size allowances.
Resolution 2023/2774
The Parliament also highlights that hidden and additional costs restrict the possibility of comparing the offers made by different airlines, which consequently limits the passengers’ ability to make an informed choice about the best offer.
Lastly, the on-the-spot checks of the dimensions of the carry-on luggage carried out by airlines’ employees was brought as an argument. MEPs consider staff members “sometimes apply the rules in a discretional and arbitrary manner”, showing the “redundancy of different size allowances”.
Thus, MEPs call on the European Commission to review the current EU legislation on air services and address the complexity of airlines’ standards for luggage, aiming for a EU-wide harmonisation of the requirements on the size, weight and type of carry-on and checked-in luggage for all airlines operating in the European Union.
Moreover, the Commission is asked to integrate in the regulation a ruling of the Court of Justice of the EU stating that hand luggage (i.e. luggage that is not checked in) must be considered as constituting a ‘necessary aspect’ of the carriage of passengers on condition that such baggage meets ‘reasonable requirements’ in terms of its weight and dimensions, and that its carriage cannot, therefore, be made subject to a price supplement.
The decision comes after a disastrous month of August in Spain, with several companies fined for charging for these items. Ryanair, Vueling, Easyjet and Volotea were subject of numerous complaints for charging passengers for hand luggage, according to complaints by consumer rights body Facua.
