Hand-baggage fees: the mega-fine stalls, passengers keep winning

Spain’s €179m fines are suspended — but small-claims courts keep refunding travellers.

Spain’s €179 million fines against Ryanair, Vueling, easyJet and others for charging cabin-bag fees are suspended while courts decide, and a Brussels court ruled in February that Ryanair’s bag policy complies with EU law. Yet Spanish small-claims courts keep ordering airlines to refund individual passengers — 14+ wins since 2024, built on the CJEU’s 2014 line that reasonable hand luggage should fly free.

For youCharged for a normal cabin bag? An individual small-claims case can still succeed today — and from ~2027 the new EU air-passenger law makes displayed fares include a hand-baggage allowance.

Next: Spain’s National Court has yet to rule on the underlying fines; the Commission is examining Spain’s approach.

Verified against the sources above on 18 July 2026. Plain-language summary — not the legal text and not legal advice.