AIR PASSENGERS' RIGHTS : ADVOCATE-GENERAL: SURCHARGE FOR CHECKING IN BAGGAGE LEGAL.

It is completely legal for airlines to boost the price of a plane ticket via supplements for checking in passengers' baggage, the Advocate-General of the EU Court of Justice, Yves Bot, has said. However, he clarifies, this does not apply to hand luggage, which companies are obliged to carry for free.

Case (C-487/12) concerns a passenger, Arias Villegas, who found that the price of her plane ticket increased by 40 when she checked in two pieces of luggage online for a flight with the Spanish air carrier Vueling. Villegas lodged a complaint with the Spanish authorities, since under Spanish law such a practice is forbidden.

However, in an opinion delivered on 23 January, Bot said that under EU law, air carriers have pricing freedom, and may choose to include the cost of checking in and handling baggage in the base price of the airline ticket, or offer the service in return for an optional price supplement. On the condition that they...