Have you ever been caught out by an airline’s bag policy? If not, you’ve definitely seen it happen: an unsuspecting (or very hopeful) passenger arrives ready to scan their boarding pass, only to be asked to put their bag into the size checking device at the gates. To everyone’s horror, it doesn’t fit, and suddenly they’re £80 down.
It’s a depressing, if very familiar, sight, but it could become less common as Ryanair are set to change their bag policy in line with new EU regulations.
Ryanair currently have the smallest ‘personal bag’ – that’s the one you’re allowed for free – size in the UK, alongside Jet2 and British Airways (although both of them also allow a larger cabin bag for free). It only allows bags that are 40x25x20cm, compared to Wizz Air’s 40x30x20 cm or EasyJet’s 45x36x20cm. This will have to change, however, as the EU is set to bring in a new law which will mandate that all airlines operating in the region have a maximum personal bag size which is at least 40x30x15cm.
Ryanair has decided to not only meet this new size, but exceed it, with a spokesperson for the brand saying Ryanair will increase its max ‘personal bag’ dimensions to 40x30x20cm, so that its allowance is bigger than the EU standard. They said: ‘This change will be implemented over the coming weeks, as our airport bag sizers are adjusted.’
This is part of a larger EU push to provide ‘fairer and more transparent travel’, which includes allowing passengers more luggage on planes, free of charge. The new rules on luggage would make it illegal for airlines to charge extra for an extra cabin bag, as many currently do, but the providers themselves have warned that this will just cause a blanket rise in ticket prices. You can learn more about that here.
The law is expected to come into effect sometime next month, so it won’t be long before you’ll be able to have a one-size-fits-all backpack for your travels across Europe, rather than having to whip out the tape measure every time you try a new airline. That should also mean less getting caught at the gate. Wins all around.
Eyes on the skies
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