In the dispute over a new hand luggage fee wants to defend the Hungarian budget airline Wizz Air in court against a million penalty of the Italian Cartel Office. Wizz Air was with the decision „disagreed“ and will take legal action against it, the airline said today.
Wizz Air considers its new pricing model to be „transparent and lawful“. It therefore guarantees that every passenger can take a piece of luggage on board free of charge – and at the same time all passengers can board more quickly.
Only small hand luggage for free
Wizz Air and the Irish budget airline Ryanair have been transporting a small piece of hand luggage that fits under the seat since autumn, such as handbags, laptop bags and small rucksacks. For a larger piece of luggage, passengers have to pay a surcharge between five and 25 euros.
The Italian Cartel Office had prohibited this in November. Demanding more for an „important part of the contract of carriage“ was „misleading“ in terms of actual ticket costs and made price comparison difficult, explained the competition guardians.
Both airlines announced, however, to stick to the practice. Then the authority had imposed on Thursday a fine of one million euros against Wizz Air and three million euros against Ryanair. Consumer advocates are also protesting against the new pricing policy of budget airlines.
