Key Points:
- Italy’s competition authority, the AGCM, opened a formal investigation into easyJet over deceptive baggage fee practices.
- The airline’s website and app default to a bundled round-trip baggage package, displaying only an average price.
- Customers who want checked baggage for only one leg of a return flight must manually disrupt the booking flow to override the default.
- The probe follows a wider crackdown on low-cost carriers, including a massive €255 million fine against rival Ryanair.
Italy’s antitrust regulator, the Autorità Garante della Concorrenza e del Mercato (AGCM), has launched a formal investigation into easyJet over alleged deceptive business practices on its booking platforms. Announced on Tuesday, May 26, 2026, the probe centers on how the European budget carrier markets and sells checked baggage and sports equipment fees for return flights. The regulator claims that the airline’s user interface systematically misleads consumers about the true price of individual flights.
The AGCM claims that easyJet’s website and mobile application display only a combined average price for checked luggage on round trips, concealing the individual cost for each leg of the journey. Furthermore, the booking platform automatically defaults to a bundled round-trip package, forcing passengers who need baggage allowance for only one leg of their journey to override the preselected option manually.
The regulator argues that this design choice forces users to interrupt their natural online booking flow, creating unnecessary friction. This opaque pricing structure constitutes an unfair and aggressive commercial practice under Italian consumer protection laws, as it routinely misleads passengers into buying services they do not want. Because checked luggage prices vary dynamically from one flight to the next based on demand, concealing the exact leg-by-leg cost deprives consumers of vital information.
The AGCM originally requested that easyJet voluntarily modify its digital booking flows to offer more transparent options. However, because the airline refused to change its platform’s user interface, the regulator opened a formal probe to assess whether the system restricts consumers’ ability to make fully informed purchasing decisions. If easyJet fails to justify its booking architecture, the watchdog could impose significant financial penalties.
This is not the first time easyJet has faced intense scrutiny from Italian regulators. In May 2021, the AGCM imposed a €2.8 million (approximately $3 million) fine on the airline, along with budget rivals Ryanair and Volotea, for denying cash refunds to passengers whose flights were canceled during pandemic-related travel restrictions. While easyJet fought the fine, the Lazio Regional Administrative Court in Rome dismissed the carrier’s appeal in February 2025, confirming the validity of the regulatory penalty.
The new probe is part of a broader, aggressive campaign by the AGCM to clean up the aviation industry’s digital booking practices. In December 2025, the Italian watchdog hit low-cost giant Ryanair with a massive €255 million fine for abusing its dominant market position in the country. The regulator determined that Ryanair had promoted its own high-margin ancillary services and restricted independent travel agents, artificially inflating costs for average flyers.
The airline is also facing pressure from regulators back home in the United Kingdom. In early 2026, Britain’s Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) officially reprimanded easyJet over misleading promotional claims. The airline had advertised that passengers could purchase large cabin bag allowances starting “from £5.99.” However, the ASA’s investigation revealed that this low price was virtually unattainable on most flight routes, further highlighting a pattern of opaque pricing.
The global budget airline sector continues to grow, with analysts projecting it will exceed $300 billion by 2030. As international regulators continue to crack down on digital “dark patterns” and hidden fees, budget airlines must redesign their digital ecosystems to prioritize transparency. Allowing companies to use deceptive preselected defaults and average-pricing structures damages consumer trust. If the AGCM’s investigation confirms these unfair practices, easyJet could face substantial fresh fines, forcing a major redesign of mobile booking applications across the global aviation sector.
