Ryanair is increasing its maximum personal bag size.Photo Credit: Apaha Spi via Unsplash
Good news for all low-cost airline travellers hoping to get a cheap ticket this summer: over the coming weeks, low-cost airline Ryanair will increase its free baggage size regulations by 20%. The European Union has enforced a new minimum size limit, and Ryanair will reportedly allow bags one third larger than the current minimum.
Travelling (Less) Light
With the new implementation, passengers will be allowed one “personal bag,” which has historically been classified as a handbag or laptop bag, up to 40cm x 30cm x 20cm, a volume of approximately 24 litres, into the cabin without being charged an extra fee. The bag should also weigh less than 10 kilograms and fit under the seat in front of the traveller. The previous maximum for a personal bag for Ryanair was about 20 litres in volume, or 40cm x 25cm x 20cm – a 20 per cent increase, all in all.
The new change will be implemented within weeks, as a Ryanair spokesperson has said the company needs time to replace their current measuring boxes with the updated ones. The new rule will also place Ryanair on par with rival Wizz Air’s bag size restrictions, but they are both still beat out by easyJet, which allows slightly larger bags (32 litres of volume) than either of the two airlines.
This new change will come as a great relief for travellers, who often arrive at the airport only to find that their bags are too large to fit in Ryanair’s dreaded measuring box. As a low-cost airline and a private company, Ryanair is known to implement extra fees for passengers, even if the bags are just 2 centimetres larger than the maximum.
Recently, the EU has been working with these private low-cost airlines to agree on a free bag minimum size so there’s less confusion amongst frequent travellers who utilise multiple different airlines. Of course, it’s still recommended that passengers double-check the airline’s standards when it comes to bag size, to avoid arriving at the airport only to find out the bag is too large to fit.
This change comes amid the French air traffic controller strikes, which have devolved European skies into chaos and caused the cancellation of thousands of flights in Europe.
