Lowcost flight companies are used by the Ministry of Consumer Affairs as part of complaints by the FACUA consumer association. It penalises the extra costs of hand luggage. The Ministry notes that they are against consumer regulations: “By putting the prices of hand luggage as external overcosts of the flight, low prices of flights make them take a privileged place in search engines and comparators compared to companies that include hand luggage in price.”

The price of the ads is not the final price paid by the buyer, as it forces users to pay separately for carrying minimum hand luggage. In addition, according to the Ministry of Consumer Affairs, airlines do not allow to pay cash for additional services at the airport, which is contrary to the regulations.

Infringements can be serious or very serious, with a fine of 10,001 to 100,000 euros and very serious with a fine of 100,001 to 1,000,000 euros. If the illegal practices have earned more money, the penalty for the serious infringement may be four to six times and, in the case of the very serious ones, six to eight times.