Ryanair wins appeal over Gatwick charges
Gatwick Airport is being forced to revise its fees system after the Civil Aviation Authority ruled some were unfair.
The CAA upheld an appeal by Ryanair that the airport is breaching EU regulations by not providing airport users with sufficient information to show how it determines charges for check-in desks and associated baggage facilities.
Ryanair launched the appeal because it does not agree that its passengers, who check-in online and mostly carry only hand baggage, are being charged for using check-in desks being used by other airlines’ customers.
The CAA said Gatwick should be required to provide users with the principles on which its check-in charges are set and adequate information showing that charges have been calculated using these principles.
But it rejected claims that the ’bundling’ of check-in and baggage related charges was, by itself, evidence of discriminatory conduct.
Ryanair’s Stephen McNamara said: “We welcome another enlightened decision from the CAA which recognises that passengers and airlines must not be forced to pay for facilities and infrastructure they do not use.
“The majority of Ryanair passengers do not go near check-in desks, yet Gatwick Airport has been charging check-in desk fees in respect of those passengers for over five years.â€
By Bev Fearis
Bev
Editor in chief Bev Fearis has been a travel journalist for 25 years. She started her career at Travel Weekly, where she became deputy news editor, before joining Business Traveller as deputy editor and launching the magazine’s website. She has also written travel features, news and expert comment for the Guardian, Observer, Times, Telegraph, Boundless and other consumer titles and was named one of the top 50 UK travel journalists by the Press Gazette.
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