The EU puts an end to some of the most desperate airline practices. The fact that the carry-on suitcase is free is really not one of them.

Thirteen years after the European Commission opened the reform process, the European Parliament and the EU Council They have closed a political agreement to give a twist to the issue of the rights that passengers have when getting on a plane. The current rule dated back to 2004. At that time, Ryanair transported about 23 million travelers a year. Today it moves more than 180 million. The world has changed a lot since then, and regulation will have to too. We tell you all the details.

Why has it taken so long? The European Commission launched the reform proposal in 2013. The European Parliament positioned itself relatively earlybut the Council, where the national governments are, blocked the file for almost a decade. There were several discrepancies, including delay thresholds for compensation, which some states wanted to raise; the issue of regulatory burden on the plane, and more.

What has ended up unblocking the process has been in part the calendar. And in July the presidency of the EU Council changes hands to Ireland, which is precisely the headquarters of Ryanair. And so, according to sources cited by El Mundowould have complicated the negotiations even more.

What changes for the passenger. The agreement introduce several measures Important for those who buy a plane ticket in Europe:

• Carry-on suitcase in the base rate. Airlines must show from the first moment of purchase a price that includes the transportation of a trolley-type cabin suitcase (up to 7 kg and maximum dimensions of 100 cm in total). This measure is the one that most affects the low-cost business model, which For years they have started from the lowest price and then add extras. Now the starting point will include the luggage. And those who do not want to take it can opt for a reduced rate.
• Always free personal item. The right to board the plane with a small piece of luggage (a backpack or bag of up to 40x30x15 cm that fits under the front seat) will be guaranteed at no additional cost, regardless of the contracted rate.
• Families and people with reduced mobility, together without paying more. Airlines will not be able to charge for ensuring that minors under 14 years of age travel seated with an adult companion. The same applies to people with disabilities or reduced mobility and pregnant women.
• End of some lower rates. Charges for correcting spelling errors in the name on the ticket or for printing the boarding pass disappear if the passenger has already checked-in.
• Delay compensation, unchanged. This has been the other major front of the negotiation. The threshold of three hours of delay to be entitled to compensation remains intact. The amounts too, paying 250 euros for flights of up to 1,500 km, 400 euros for journeys between 1,500 and 3,500 km, and 600 euros for the rest.

What’s wrong with the suitcase?. Regulation around cabin baggage has been a constant tug-of-war for years. The European Parliament came to the negotiations asking for carry-on luggage to be included in the ticket free of charge and universally. It has not completely succeeded, since airlines will be able to continue charging for this service, but they must reflect its cost and make it visible from the beginning of the purchase process.

Javier Gándara, spokesperson for the Association of Airlines (ALA), which brings together companies such as Iberia, Vueling, Ryanair and easyJet, account to El Mundo that the standard “does not respond to current needs and goes against consumer philosophy in recent years.”

How airlines read it. The ALA employers’ association celebrates that Europe has recognized that “it is perfectly legal to offer a cheaper fare to those passengers who only carry a carry-on bag”, something that indirectly validates this business model against the sanctions imposed by the Government in Spain. But they criticize that forcing the cost of the suitcase to be included from the first price shown “distorts the principle of consumer choice” and can lead to many travelers “ending up paying for a service that they do not need.”

For companies like Ryanair, services not included in the ticket generate more than 4,000 million euros annual in revenue, so it seems more or less inevitable that the airline will end up raising the cost of its base fare.

And Spain?. The country has voted against the agreement in the Council, along with Latvia. Finland and Austria abstained. The Ministry of Consumer Affairs, led by Pablo Bustinduy, continues to maintain that the fact that hand luggage is free is a right already recognized by the Spanish courts and by a ruling from the Court of Justice of the EU, and that this criterion was what it was based on. that fine of 179 million euros imposed in 2024 on five low-cost airlines. Brussels, however, opened infringement proceedings against Spain for these sanctions.

The new agreement does not resolve that conflict. And it is that the Ministry considers it insufficient because it has not really managed to force the airlines to include the cabin bag in their lowest fare, and the airlines now have a guarantee to strengthen their position.

What remains pending. The political agreement must be formally ratified by the plenary session of the European Parliament, whose vote is scheduled for July. Once adopted and published in the Official Journal of the EU, the new rights will come into force twelve months later, expected in 2027. The Commission has also committed to assessing in three years whether the scope of the regulation can be extended to third country operators flying to the EU.

Cover image | Suhyeon Choi

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