The Irish low-cost airline Ryanair has now received a defeat in court in Germany in terms of check-in fees. The Frankfurt Regional Court ruled that these costs must be transparently indicated during the booking process. The decision is not final, an appeal by the carrier is to be expected.

The German competition center is suing Ryanair because of the controversial check-in fee of 55 euros. Many passengers find this surprising. The Frankfurt Regional Court dealt with the matter under reference number Az 3-06 O 7/20 and gave the plaintiff right in the first instance.

“In its judgment, the regional court agreed with the opinion of the competition headquarters. Ryanair is obliged both under the Air Transport Services Ordinance and under the Act against Unfair Competition to point out the costs of checking in at the counter when booking. The information given in the General Terms and Conditions, which the customer does not necessarily have to read, is not sufficient because these costs must be clearly and transparently pointed out. Information about the possibility of online check-in two days before departure by e-mail or even at the counter is not sufficient, ”the competition headquarters wrote in a broadcast. "In its decision, the court also follows the opinion of the competition center that the airline must not only refer to these - albeit optional - additional costs in the context of the specific booking, but generally on its website and not first in the terms and conditions".

"With every understanding of digitization in the tourism sector, the costs for such, albeit optional, standard services must be communicated transparently to the customer, even if many customers already make use of the online check-in option," says lawyer Peter Breun -Goerke from the management of the competition headquarters this decision. "The price or the cost of a flight is an essential parameter in the highly competitive environment. If you cheat by hushing up price components, the competition is impaired to the detriment of the rule-compliant providers," continues Breun-Goerke.

Laudamotion was defeated in Austria before the Supreme Court

The affair in Germany seems to be developing into a blueprint of the trial marathon that the Association for Consumer Information in Austria fought against the former airline Laudamotion, which is a subsidiary of Ryanair. The case ended up in the Supreme Court, which overturned the check-in fee in May 2020.

The Austrian highest judges decided that just listing them in the terms and conditions and under “useful information” is not sufficient. The optional fee was not displayed automatically, but only hidden in the details of the tariff information. That was not enough for both the Supreme Court and all of the lower courts. The highest judges described the practice at Laudamotion as unreasonable.

Judgment with limited consequences as Laudamotion no longer flies

In principle, a check-in fee would not be prohibited, but it must be pointed out explicitly and unambiguously. However, the Supreme Court rated the amount of 55 euros as striking and unreasonably high. In the justification, it was also pointed out that competitors - if at all - charge significantly lower costs and, on top of that, the Laudamotion check-in fee is in many cases significantly higher than the actual ticket price. This practice has been prohibited, as has Irish law in the Conditions of Carriage.

In principle, the OGH ruling in Austria applies to the entire industry, but Lauda flights have not been sold since summer 2020 because Laudamotion only flew as a wet lease for the sister company Ryanair DAC. Meanwhile the Flight operations stopped and the Return certificates to the authorities. The successor Praise Europe is a Maltese company.