OREANDA-NEWS. June 15, 2011. Ryanair, the world’s favourite airline, today (Tue, 14 June) welcomed the UK CAA’s second ruling, in as many weeks, upholding an appeal by Ryanair against the charging system at Gatwick Airport.  The CAA has found that Gatwick Airport is failing to comply with its obligations under the Transparency Condition by not providing airport users with sufficient information to show how the airport determined its charges for check-in desks and associated baggage facilities. The ruling follows Ryanair’s successful 2009 complaint against Gatwick Airport’s opaque pricing system. This latest decision of the CAA comes just two weeks after the CAA ruled that Gatwick Airport has applied discriminatory charges for check-in facilities.

Under Gatwick’s discriminatory charging system, all passengers are charged for using check-in desks, even if they have checked-in online and are carrying only hand baggage, and so made no use of check-in desks. All of Ryanair passengers check-in online and the majority carry only hand baggage. Ryanair’s passengers are therefore forced to cross-subsidise passengers of other airlines, who make much greater use of check-in facilities.

The CAA has stated that Gatwick should be required to provide users with the principles on which its check-in charges are set and adequate information showing that charges have been calculated using these principles.