For all but the most seasoned travellers the metal bag sizers used by budget airlines have become an instrument of fear because of the heavy financial penalty incurred if hand baggage is too big to fit.
But as the summer holiday season gets under way there is some good news for those who struggle to travel light: Ryanair has announced it is increasing the size of the small “personal” bag you can take in the cabin for free by 20%.
This sounds unusually generous of Ryanair – is it?
Yes. But it comes as airlines fall into line behind a new EU guaranteed bag size of 40cm by 30cm by 15cm. The current dimensions of the Ryanair free carry-on limit are 40cm by 25cm by 20cm – below the EU rule. It is increasing them to 40cm by 30cm by 20cm.
Ryanair trumpets this is “bigger than the EU standard”. It says the change “will be implemented over the coming weeks, as our airport bag sizers are adjusted”.
The size change represents a 20% increase in volume and means Ryanair will be accepting free bags one-third bigger than the new EU minimum.
But that is the only aspect of Ryanair’s baggage policy that is changing. If you get it wrong and a gate check reveals the bag is oversized you will pay a fee of £60. A larger cabin bag can be added to a flight booking for £6 to £36 depending on the route but, again, if it is deemed too large at the airport it will cost £75 to stow.
Will other airlines change their luggage rules, too?
Some won’t have do anything. Rival budget airline easyJet, for example, already allows a more generous free underseat bag. Wizz Air’s current free bag policy is the same as the one that Ryanair is moving to.
The airline association Airlines for Europe (A4E) says its 28 members have started applying the bag dimensions which were agreed by EU transport ministers last month.
“This will bring more clarity to passengers across Europe,” says its managing director, Ourania Georgoutsakou. “From city-hoppers to family travellers, everyone will benefit from the same clear rule across our members’ networks.”
Standardising cabin-bag rules has been on the Brussels agenda for years with the decision to settle on a size enabling frequent travellers to buy one piece of luggage that will be accepted by multiple airlines.
All A4E airlines will be following the bag rule by the end of the 2025 summer season, it says, adding that “carriers will continue to permit larger personal items at their discretion”.
Aren’t hand baggage fees being abolished anyway?
Not yet, but they could be. European consumer groups are calling on EU lawmakers to investigate budget airlines for “exploiting consumers” by charging for hand luggage.
In May, BEUC, an umbrella group for 44 consumer organisations, called for Brussels to investigate seven airlines, including Ryanair, easyJet and Wizz Air for this. BEUC director general Agustín Reyna said the airlines were “ignoring the EU top court who ruled that charging [for] reasonably sized hand baggage is illegal”.
The organisation was referring to a EU court of justice ruling in 2014 that said the “carriage of hand baggage cannot be made subject to a price supplement, provided that it meets reasonable requirements in terms of its weight and dimensions”.
In the meantime, Spain has become a battleground for the issue. Last year, its consumer affairs ministry fined five carriers, including Ryanair, a total of €179m (£150m) for charging passengers for hand luggage and seat reservations. Now low-cost carrier Wizz Air is being investigated, too.
Will charges be banned?
Ryanair’s chief executive, Michael O’Leary, says no. He is dismissive of the Spanish effort, recently telling the Guardian the country has a “mad minister who’s decided that as General Franco passed some law 30 years before Spain joined the EU, passengers are free to bring as much baggage as they want.”
A Spanish court has now temporarily suspended the fines on three of the airlines (including Ryanair) while the matter is under judicial review, after a legal challenge.
To complicate matters further, last month the transport committee of the European parliament voted to give passengers the right to an extra piece of free hand luggage weighing up to 7kg.
Under the new rule, travellers could bring one cabin bag measuring up to 100cm (based on the sum of the dimensions) on board their flight, as well a personal bag, at no additional cost. (MEPs also want children under 12 years old to be seated next to their accompanying passenger free of charge.)
The proposed law requires approval from 55% of EU member states, but if adopted after the negotiations due to start this month, would extend to all flights within the EU, as well as routes to and from the EU.
The airline industry is predictably opposed, stating that the cost of the bag will be folded into overall prices, pushing up fares.
“Europe’s airline market is built on choice,” Georgoutsakou says. “Forcing a mandatory trolley bag strips passengers of that choice and obliges passengers to pay for services they may not want or need. What’s next? Mandatory popcorn and drinks as part of your cinema ticket?
“The European parliament should let travellers decide what services they want, what services they pay for and, importantly, what services they don’t,” she says.
