easyJet

UK’s advertising watchdog warns easyJet for potentially misleading baggage pricing claims

easyJet escaped without being fined for what the ASA deemed were misleading claims about the price of large cabin bags.

Photo: easyJet

The United Kingdom Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has warned easyJet to avoid misleading users about the price of large cabin bags, which it had advertised as being available “from £5.99 [$8.25].”

In a ruling on January 28, 2026, the ASA said that, following a complaint from Which?, a consumer protection group, which alleged that easyJet’s marketing text advertising that large cabin bags were available from £5.99, was misleading.

Misleading starting price

In its defence, easyJet outlined that the pricetag, which appeared under the ‘Fees and Charges’ page, was not “used in broader promotions or marketing campaigns.”

While the low-cost carrier was unable to provide the exact figures, it stated that “the advertised price was accurate and available on a range of routes.”

“easyJet believed the general availability of large cabin bags at £5.99, and the fact that there were no bags available below that price, meant the information on the page was not misleading.”

However, the ASA concluded that consumers would be led to believe that bags would be available at that price “across a significant proportion of flight routes and dates.” The authority also expected to see evidence that the price tag was available “across a range of flights and dates.”

With easyJet being unable to “provide specific data to substantiate that price,” its claim that the bags could be purchased starting from that price was insufficient in the eyes of the ASA.

“Because we had not seen sufficient evidence to demonstrate that large cabin bags were available to book for £5.99 across a range of flight routes and dates, we concluded the ‘from’ pricing claim had not been substantiated and was misleading.”

Now, easyJet’s ‘Fees and Charges’ page reads that fees for large cabin bags “vary with demand, route, flight date and time of booking,” with the exact price being shown at the time of purchase.

Regulatory clamp-down on ancillary revenues

Meanwhile, in Spain, the Spanish Ministry of Consumer Affairs (Ministerio de Consumo, MIC) issued multi-million euro fines to five low-cost carriers, including easyJet, “for practices such as charging extra for hand luggage or for reserving adjacent seats for passengers with disabilities.”

easyJet was issued the third-largest fine at €29 million ($34.6 million), while Ryanair was fined €107.7 million ($128.5 million).

In October 2025, the European Commission (EC) warned that the country’s “Air Navigation Law does not allow airlines to subject the carriage of any hand luggage to an additional charge, restricting airlines' freedom to set prices and to differentiate between a service that includes the right to an increased cabin baggage allowance, and a service that does not offer that possibility and merely provides the smaller allowance which constitutes a necessary aspect of carriage,” violating European Union (EU) law.

In addition, the EC deemed that the fine also infringes EU regulations.

At the same time, a proposal to adjust passenger rights regulations in the EU has been progressing through the European Parliament (EP). Members of the EP’s Committee on Transport and Tourism (TRAN) proposed changes to the EU’s passenger regulations, commonly known as EU261, following proposals by the EU’s ministers.

In addition to keeping the current compensation rules when it comes to flight disruptions, the EP affirmed its position that every passenger should be able to carry one free personal item, plus an additional small bag, on board an aircraft.

“MEPs also want to scrap the additional fees travellers are sometimes forced to pay for correcting passenger name errors or for checking into their flight. Passengers should retain the right to choose between digital and paper boarding passes […].”

According to the EP, its position will be sent to the European Council (EUCO) for deliberations. If the EUCO rejects all or some of the amendments, a Conciliation Committee, with an equal number of MEPs and EUCO representatives, will be formed.

“If a legislative proposal is rejected at any stage of the procedure, or the Parliament and the Council cannot reach a compromise, the proposal is not adopted, and the procedure is ended.”