Big spenders BAGGAGE COST

Budget airlines face fines over excess charging

By Alex Trelinski

LOW-COST airlines could face massive fines for charging passengers extra for hand-luggage carried in the cabin.

Spain’s Ministry of Consumer Affairs (Consumo) has opened proceedings against several airlines, although their names have not been made public.

Consumer Affairs minister

Alberto Garzon launched an investigation earlier this year, saying the budget operators being probed had a market share of above 30%.

Penalties might involve substantial fines handed out to offending airlines. Consumo has also extended its remit beyond hand luggage to look at extra costs that airlines apply to services that used to be bundled in a ticket price, like seat reservations.

It is concerned that low fares are advertised but the reality does not match up with the final price paid by travellers once extras are added.

Consumo has also denounced the airlines for other irregularities, such as not

Brits up front

SPAIN welcomed 8.3 million foreign tourists in June - 10.9% more than in the same month last year according to the National Institute of Statistics.

Visitors from the United Kingdom accounted for almost two million tourists - 23.8% of the total.

The Balearic Islands were the most popular destination followed by Catalunya and Andalucia, with most arrivals staying between four to seven nights independent of any package holiday.

Spending in June stood at €10.6 billion - 17.5% above allowing cash payment at the airport for additional services, contrary to regulations. The penalties for infringe- ments vary between €10,001 and €100,000 in the case of serious ones, and between €100,001 and €1 million in the case of very serious ones.

June last year, and 10% higher than the €9,600 million in June 2019, before the pandemic struck. Expenditure has been setting monthly all-time record highs since last November, despite average stays being shorter compared to 2019.

The post-pandemic recovery is almost complete with Spain receiving a total of 37.5 million international tourists in the first six months of the year, which is just 1.6% down on the same period in 2019.

In the first half of the year, tourists spent a total of €46 billion - 28.3% more than last year, and 14.3% above levels four years ago.

The average expenditure per tourist is €1,275, with an annual increase of 5.9%, while daily expenditure grew by 7.9%, to €188.

The ministry investigation comes after an initial complaint made by consumer association Facua in October 2021 over hand luggage charges by Spanish budget carrier Vueling.

The group has previously filed complaints against Ryanair, easyJet, and Volotea.

MORE and more American tourists are choosing Spain for their vacation destination, with the number of visitors from the United States arriving rising by 17.4% so far this year.

According to Spain’s National Statistics Institute (INE), from January to July, a total of 1.8 million people from the US made a visit to Spain, compared to 1.1 million in the same months a year previously.

“The US market has an important value for our tourist sector,” said the Industry, Trade and Tourism minister, Hector Gomez.

The UK, France and Germany, in that order, remain the biggest markets for tourism to Spain, but the US is catching up and is currently in sixth position.

In June alone, 546,093 US visitors arrived, which is the best figure seen since 2015 when the current INE data series began. Most American visitors choose Catalunya as their destination, accounting for 41% of the total, followed by the Madrid region, with 27%.

Another piece of good news for the Spanish tourism sector is the amount of money that US visitors spend.

A report from Turespaña states that in 2022, the 2.78 million American visitors to Spain spent €5.3 billion, which was 6% of the total.

This places them as the fourth biggest spenders among other nationalities, despite being the sixth biggest in terms of volume of visitors.