Testaankoop wins battle over bundling and discounts, and consumers win battle over misleading options.
The Brussels Commercial Court has put a clear stop to a number of commercial practices used by low-cost airline Ryanair during the booking process. According to the court, these practices mislead consumers and pressure them into making more expensive choices than they originally intended. The ruling follows a lawsuit filed in May last year by consumer organization Testaankoop, together with umbrella organization Euroconsumers, after several complaints were lodged with the Belgian Economic Inspection.
Central to the ruling is the illegal bundling of options, which, according to the court, must be priced separately and transparently. The judge ruled that Ryanair unlawfully directs customers toward more expensive packages by not offering certain extras separately. These include options such as priority boarding and reserving a specific seat. According to the court, presenting these benefits only in package form creates a distorted picture of the actual cost of a flight.
false discounts
On January 28, Testaankoop was vindicated on this point by the commercial court. The airline was also convicted of offering false discounts, in which the correct reference price was not used. In addition, Ryanair was reprimanded for creating artificial scarcity during the booking process by leading customers to believe that only a few seats were still available at a low price. According to Testaankoop, this practice encourages consumers to make quick decisions without sufficient insight into the real price structure.
In May 2025, consumer organization Testaankoop, with the support of Euroconsumers, initiated legal proceedings against Irish airline Ryanair. According to the organization, Ryanair violates various consumer rights during the booking process. For example, the airline charges for hand luggage, the prices of options such as extra bags and priority boarding are not transparent, and discounts are calculated incorrectly. In a ruling on January 28, the court confirmed that many of Ryanair's practices violate the Code of Economic Law and European rules.
The ruling has concrete consequences. Ryanair must make changes to its booking process within three months of the judgment being served. If it fails to do so, the airline risks a penalty of €5,000 per day. In this way, the court wants to make it clear that transparency is not an optional choice, but a legal obligation.
However, not allof Testaankoop's complaintswere upheld. One major point of contention concerned the charging of extra fees for hand luggage. The Brussels commercial court ruled that it is not illegal to charge for hand luggage the size of a trolley bag. The fact that adults have to pay to sit next to a minor was also not found to be contrary to current regulations. This remains a sensitive issue for many travelers, but Ryanair has been given the green light from a legal perspective.
At the end of this dossier, Ryanair is left with a clear task: the booking process must be simpler, more transparent, and fairer. Whether this will also lead to structural changes in the sector remains to be seen in the coming months and years.
Nevertheless, Testaankoop does not consider the matter closed. The consumer organization continues to exert pressure at the European level, where broader reforms of passenger rights are on the table. Laura Clays of Testaankoop explains: "We are working hard at the European level to bring about improvements. Major changes are coming in the area of passenger rights. The European Parliament is already in favor of making 7 kilograms of hand luggage an integral part of the ticket price and of giving a free seat to the adult accompanying a minor child." If approved, these proposals would have a significant impact on the revenue model of low-cost airlines.
sales techniques
The ruling by the Brussels Commercial Court fits into a broader European debate on consumer protection in the aviation sector. While low ticket prices remain attractive to many travelers, criticism of additional costs and opaque sales techniques is growing. The ruling emphasizes that airlines cannot exercise their commercial freedom without restriction when this is at the expense of clear and fair information for consumers.
Ryanair remains unaffected in a number of areas for the time being. For example, the court does not consider it unlawful to charge for carry-on baggage the size of a trolley bag or to require adults to pay extra to sit next to a minor child.
