The European Court of Justice has found that Spain breached EU law in prohibiting an airline from charging a price supplement for checked-in luggage.

The court found that the price to be paid for checked-in baggage is not an unavoidable and foreseeable item in the fare for air travel.

This case was taken after a Spanish woman was charged €40 for checking in two pieces of luggage for a €240 return trip from La Coruña to Amsterdam on a flight operated by the low cost Spanish carrier, Vueling.

The woman complained to the Galician regional consumers association, which then fined their airline €3,000, as Spanish law prohibits air carriers from making checking in passengers' baggage subject to an optional price supplement.

Vueling subsequently took the case to Europe's highest court, with the question of whether EU law is liable to call into question the economic model adopted by certain airlines since the liberalisation of the sector and, in particular, by the 'low cost' airlines.

In the judgment today, the court replied that EU law precludes legislation, such as the Spanish law, that requires air carriers to carry not only the passenger but also baggage checked in by them for the price of the plane ticket, without any price supplement.

The court holds that the price to be paid for the carriage of baggage checked-in by air passengers is not an unavoidable and foreseeable item of the price of the air service, but may be an optional price supplement in respect of a complementary service.

By contrast, hand baggage must be considered as a necessary item for the carriage of passengers.

Consequently, the carriage of hand baggage cannot be made subject to a price supplement, provided that it meets reasonable requirements.

By prohibiting the practice, Spanish law also contravened the ability of EU travellers to freely compare flight tickets.