The leading case in this field is the judgment of the Court of Justice of the European Union of 18 September 2014 in Case C-487/12, Vueling Airlines SA.

The dispute concerned Spanish legislation requiring checked baggage to be included in the ticket price. The Court found this legislation incompatible with Regulation No 1008/2008, holding that the carriage of checked baggage is not an essential element of passenger air transport and may therefore be subject to a price supplement.

The decision is based on the distinction between the principal service of transporting the passenger and the additional services that the carrier may offer separately.

Although the judgment primarily focuses on checked baggage, the Court also distinguished it from unchecked baggage, noting that hand baggage—provided it complies with reasonable limits of weight and dimensions and applicable safety requirements—has characteristics different from those of checked baggage. However, the Court did not expressly rule on the lawfulness of a specific surcharge for hand baggage, leaving a significant margin for interpretation.

It is precisely this interpretative space that has given rise to recent disputes in Spain. According to the position put forward by certain authorities and consumer associations, hand baggage constitutes an essential and unavoidable component of air travel and should therefore be included in the base ticket price. This approach emphasises the passenger’s practical interest and aims to counter excessive price fragmentation. However, it raises significant questions regarding compatibility with the system established by Regulation No 1008/2008, which grants carriers a wide margin of autonomy in setting their fares. The risk is the progressive fragmentation of national regulations, potentially undermining the uniformity of the internal air transport market.

At the core of the issue lies the absence of a uniform European definition of what constitutes an essential element of the air transport service.

On the one hand, consumer associations argue that hand baggage represents a minimum and necessary component of travel. From this perspective, its exclusion from the base price may undermine the transparency of commercial offers and encourage practices perceived as misleading.

On the other hand, airlines assert the full legitimacy of their economic model, which is based on offering highly competitive entry-level fares while monetising additional services requested by passengers.

This position also finds legal grounding in Article 16 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union, which protects the freedom to conduct a business, subject to the limitations laid down by EU law and the general interests pursued by the European legislator.

The controversy is not purely legal.

In recent years, revenues from ancillary services have become increasingly significant in airlines’ financial statements, particularly for those operating under the low-cost model. Fees for checked baggage, seat selection, priority boarding, and supplements for larger hand baggage now constitute a substantial portion of industry income.

Any imposition of a general obligation to include hand baggage in the base fare could therefore have a significant impact on market economics and carriers’ commercial strategies.

In the absence of clarifying legislative or judicial intervention, there is a risk of increased litigation and growing legal uncertainty.

Interpretative divergences among national legal systems could make it increasingly difficult to ensure the uniformity of the internal air transport market, which is one of the fundamental objectives pursued by the European legislator.

It cannot be ruled out that the issue will once again be referred to the Court of Justice of the European Union through a preliminary ruling, thus providing an opportunity to more precisely define the boundaries between essential and ancillary services.

Once again, the Court would be called upon to strike a balance between competing yet equally worthy interests: on the one hand, the economic and organisational freedom of airlines; on the other, effective consumer protection and market transparency.

The hand baggage issue demonstrates how, even in a highly liberalised sector, areas of uncertainty persist that require ongoing interpretative effort. The question of whether hand baggage constitutes an essential service or an ancillary one remains, at present, unresolved. Its resolution will affect not only airlines’ commercial strategies but also the future development of European air transport law.

Ultimately, the controversy over hand baggage goes beyond a mere pricing issue and fits within the broader debate on the limits of liberalisation of services within the European single market. The choice between classifying hand baggage as an essential component of transport or as an ancillary service extends beyond the aviation sector and touches upon the relationship between freedom of enterprise, competition, and consumer protection. In the absence of an explicit legislative definition, it will likely fall once again to the Court of Justice of the European Union to identify the proper balance between these interests. Until then, hand baggage will continue to represent one of the most significant examples of how, even in fully liberalised markets, determining the essential content of a service can become a point of tension between economic needs, consumer rights, and the fundamental principles of the European legal order.