An easyJet passenger has publicly hit out at the budget airline after he was slapped with a £48 fine for a piece of hand luggage – despite the bag appearing to be abiding by the sizing rules enforced by the company.
Taking to TikTok, @jakehughesss uploaded a video showing his bag within one of the sizing frames used to measure the bags prior to departure – and seemingly fitting correctly in it.
It seems that Hughes may not have been the only disgruntled passenger, as he claimed in his video that “pretty much all of the passengers were charged an extra £48”.
In the TikTok video, which has amassed 33,000 views, Hughes says: “I’m just going to get a video real quick, this bag fits perfectly in here.”
Mr Hughes is then asked to “remove it” by a ground handling provider at Manchester Airport, to which he replies: “Na, I’m gunna leave it in there actually I need a manager to see this”. I need someone higher up than you to see this.”
In the clip, the handling provider repeats that he needs to remove his bag with Hughes reiterating that he “needs a manager to see this”.
In response, an easyJet staff member says: “You need to remove your bag as I said I am the manager.” To which Hughes questions: “Where is the manager status on you”.
Hughes adds: “Come on man I’m not trying to be difficult, I’m just saying that £48 for that is ridiculous. I brought that bag especially because it’s an easyJet bag.”
The ground handling provider replies: “You need to remove your bag, I need to try other passengers’ bags first.”
In response Hughes says: “You saw it fits though yeah?”.
The easyJet worker replies, “no”, despite the bag appearing to fit perfectly in the frame.
This prompts Hughes to once again show that the bag fits the allowance.
The video then cuts to Hughes filming the ground handling provider on board the plane with a comment reading: “This is him lmao – charged pretty much all of the passengers an extra £48 or they weren’t allowed to board.”
The TikToker went on to claim: “They began terminating my boarding pass so I had no choice but to pay – then even after paying I wasn’t allowed to board until I deleted all of my footage from my camera roll. So suss.”
easyJet told Express.co.uk that Hughes is eligible for a refund and that the airline investigating their “ground handling provider”.
A spokesperson for easyJet said: “We are investigating with our ground handling provider at Manchester airport to understand why Mr Hughes was charged for his bag which appears to be in line with his allowance, and we have been in touch with him to refund the charge.”
Thousands of people have rushed to voice their frustration on the viral video.
One user claimed: “As someone who worked at an airport I can tell you that each employee has a number of bags they have to charge per month to reach the target.”
Another added: “We had this same problem last week, they charged us £48 going out of the country and I think it was £42 on the way back, it’s disgraceful.”
