This latest incident took place last Friday, 28 February, on a Ryanair flight from Mallorca to Madrid. The passenger, who has reported the incident to the OCU (Organisation of Consumers and Users), is a resident of Mallorca and was told that her bag was “protruding” and she had to pay extra. They also told her that she had to put her handbag inside the bag, even though she had medication in it that she might need.
“In a very unpleasant way, they told me that I was not going to get on the plane, even though I had travelled with the same bag dozens of times and did so on the return flight, also with Ryanair...” she said. The tension grew and the attitude of the two airline employees, who she says were of foreign nationality or origin, did not give in.
“Not only me, but another guy was threatened and told he would be left on the ground, with his wife and son already on the plane,” added the passenger, who was unable to identify the Ryanair employees because they refused. And in view of the nervous situation generated in the terminal, they apparently snapped at the passenger, who was finally unable to board the flight she had already paid for: “Don’t make a fuss and pretend you’re going to faint and fall to the floor. We’re used to this”. A loud exchange of opinions followed, including disrespect and bad language which also annoyed those present.
“In Spain it’s always the same thing. All Spaniards are the same,” said one of the Ryanair employees. All these incidents have already been reported by the affected passenger, who had to buy a new ticket with another airline, “which cost me 100 euros,” she said, in order to be able to make a “personal trip that I had to make one way or another.”
This complaint is in addition to others raised and made public by other Ryanair passengers at Son Sant Joan, residents of the Balearics, who have highlighted the bad manners of the boarding staff with luggage and its weight and size as the centre of the controversy.
And this afternoon, the Organisation of Consumers and Users (OCU) has filed a test case against Ryanair to have hand luggage declared ‘abusive’ in court, as already considered and recently sanctioned by the Ministry of Social Rights, Consumer Affairs and Agenda 2030 with a fine of 179 million euros for the Irish company and four other low-cost airlines.
In this case, the organisation is hoping that the National Court will adopt precautionary measures to ensure that the sanctioned airlines temporarily stop charging for hand luggage and for all other abusive practices, according to a press release.
In the meantime, it recommends that all consumers complain about ‘the illegality of these supplements’ and, for those who have already done so, to keep the documents that ‘reflect these abuses so that they can be legally challenged if necessary’.
In 2024, the OCU received 1,139 complaints through the online platform Reclamar, with Ryanair being the airline that received the most complaints for baggage-related problems, with a total of 248.
Finally, the consumer organisation reminds users that it has launched a campaign to inform and help consumers file complaints about airline abuses.
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The Ground Staff are doing a great job, working better than the Terrorists , that have caused these disgraceful actions. .
Really sorry, but sometimes people should realize they choose to fly the lowest of the lowest fare/service airline. Buy yourself Priority fare on Ryanair - or fly a different carrier. But people who want to pay absolutely nothing shouldn’t expect much. Staff of Ryanair probably applied to every other airline… unsuccessfully. So there.