UK may ban airlines from charging for hand luggage – but it could hike your flight price, experts warn
AIRLINES could be banned from charging British passengers bringing hand luggage on flights, it is claimed.
Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander is understood to be considering proposals to change the rules after the EU Parliament transport and tourism committee put forward a new law to allow two carry-on items free as standard.
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If the new law is approved, passengers flying on any EU airline will be allowed a free cabin bag to put in the overhead locker - as long as it weighs no more than 7kg and measures up to 100cm.
Ryanair and Wizz Air introduced fees for large cabin bags in 2018, and easyJet followed suit in 2021.
However, the likes of British Airways and Jet2.com already include two pieces of cabin baggage as standard in their base fairs.
But there are fears some airlines will put up ticket prices to claw back revenue losses - with some claiming the proposals are unworkable due to lack of space and warn flights maybe delayed.
A transport source spoke to the i newspaper after the EU committee voted to introduce the standardised allowance.
Due to varying rules across airlines, the European Parliament hopes to create a common standard across the board for carry-on luggage.
The proposals are still under discussion by member states and a time frame for implementation are unclear, though a meeting is scheduled for July.
The UK source told the i the Government was also looking at changing the law in the coming months, although policy development is at an early stage.
A Department for Transport spokeswoman said: 'We do not comment on speculation but continue to closely monitor the EU's proposals on air passenger rights reforms.
'We want to make sure passengers can travel with ease, which is why we landed a deal with the EU to allow millions more British nationals to use e-gates at airports in time for the summer holidays.'
Airlines have warned they may need to increase ticket prices which would impact all passengers, including those travelling with smaller bags.
Airlines for Europe Managing Director Ourania Georgoutsakou told Politico: 'The European Parliament should let travellers decide what services they want, what services they pay for and, importantly, what services they don't.'
Airlines for Europe also warned that its members won't be able to comply with the new rule due to lack of space.
A typical cabin seats 180 passengers but has room for only 90 trolley bags in the overhead lockers.
Airlines for Europe also warned that its members won't be able to comply with the new rule due to lack of space.
A typical cabin seats 180 passengers but has room for only 90 trolley bags in the overhead lockers.
Last year, there were reports that there were going to be changes to the hand luggage rules - but these did not change.
Speaking to The Independent at the time, Michael O'Leary, chief executive of Europe's biggest budget carrier, Ryanair said: "We do think there should be a standardised agreement on what can be brought on board.
"We're working with the other airlines in A4E to try to agree standardised sizes, but we haven't reached an agreement with them yet."
While the rules continue to be discussed, check out this popular travel bag that's allowed on Ryanair flights for free.
Plus the travel bags, plane outfits and accessories we can't live without – and they start from just 99p.
Head of Travel Lisa Minot weighs in.
EUROPEAN plans to force all airlines to allow passengers to bring a bag weighing less than 7kg into the cabin as well as an under-seat bag seem on the face of it to be a good outcome for travellers.
But there could be a sting in the tail for flyers going forward.
Low cost airlines have for years been keeping the price of base fares low by adding on an ever more dizzying array of extra charges.
And these ancillary charges now make up an increasing percentage of their profits.
These extra charges now make up more than 30per cent of Ryanair's revenue. Between October and December last year, Ryanair's ancillary revenues were worth £884million.
Airlines argue that if they are forced to comply with the new laws, the base fares will have to rise for every passenger across the board, including those flying smaller bags.
They also point out many airlines won't be able to comply with the new rules as typically planes that carry 180 passengers only have room for 90 trolley bags.
But on the plus side, forcing all airlines to adhere to the same rules can only be a good thing.
Right now, the disparity between the size and weight of bags and the prices airlines charge is hideously complicated and can often lead to passengers being caught out.
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In buyers' market art is in the sale, just look at Brighton (not United)
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There is no strategy. What's the plan when clubs want to sell a player? Sit there saying, 'I hope someone comes in for him.' ' The situation is made all the more curious by the fact that in this age of Profitability and Sustainability Rules (PSR) and inflated fees — which must be funded somehow — an ability to raise money through sales has never been more important. So many Premier League clubs, in this window, find their plans dependent on how effectively, and lucratively, they can offload players. United are the most obvious example, but Liverpool, Arsenal, Manchester City, Aston Villa and many others need to offload players. It doesn't excite fans, who focus on the shiny new stars arriving, but getting rid of the right ones, at the right prices, can be as crucial as signing well. United, in straightened times and in the straitjacket of PSR, are trying to fund a squad makeover to fit Ruben Amorim's style. 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Yet Mikel Arteta's main requirement is a new striker, and with targets Viktor Gyokeres and Benjamin Sesko priced in excess of £60million, the club are looking to raise about £50million from sales. They would listen to offers for Oleksandr Zinchenko, Jakub Kiwior, Reiss Nelson and perhaps even Gabriel Martinelli. With their income slashed by failing to reach the Champions League, Aston Villa are looking to reduce player costs by £80million this summer. They have sold cleverly in the past — getting €188million (£160million) for Jhon Durán, Moussa Diaby and Douglas Luiz last season — and will have to sell smartly again, ideally starting before the PSR 2024-25 accounting deadline of midnight Monday. Pep Guardiola has threatened to quit if City don't reduce the size of his squad, and Jack Grealish is the most eye-catching item in their shop window. Guardiola may benefit from having a new sporting director, Hugo Viana, whose experience (gained at Sporting Lisbon) is within a player-trading model as opposed to the departing Txiki Begiristain, one of the best sporting directors of all time but who has only worked at dominant clubs in periods where there was little emphasis on sales. After the £40million signing of Milos Kerkez pushed their summer spending beyond £200million, Liverpool are not finished recruiting but need to balance their expenditure with more sales on top of the £24million already received for Caoimhin Kelleher, Nat Phillips and Trent Alexander-Arnold. Jarell Quansah is expected to join Bayer Leverkusen for £35million after the European Under-21 Championship and Tyler Morton, also excelling at the tournament, is another asset they will seek to realise. Talks are continuing with Napoli over a deal to sell Darwin Núñez, while Federico Chiesa, who interests several Serie A clubs, is also likely to be sold. Ideally, with Kerkez aboard, the Liverpool would raise funds by disposing of a left back. Andrew Robertson is considering interest from Atletico Madrid but may stay for the final year of his contract, though, and Kostas Tsimikas is happy in a back-up role. A 'Greek Scouser' who describes Liverpool as 'the Broadway of football' may be hard to shift. The importance of sales was laid out at the end of the previous summer transfer window by the online football finance expert Swiss Ramble. From 2022-24, Brighton's gross spending on players (£411million) exceeded that of Liverpool, Newcastle United, Villa and — by a significant margin — the outlays of supposed peer clubs such as Brentford, Fulham and Crystal Palace. But their net spend? It was just £20million. They had traded their squad upwards — readying it to finish a club-record eighth in 2024-25 — for less than £7million per season, thanks to sales. The analysis showed Chelsea and City to have been by far the period's biggest sellers. The massive recruitment programmes undergone by both would have been impossible without recouping through player disposals. The pressure on Arsenal, United, Tottenham Hotspur and Newcastle was also clear in the figures. Those clubs' relatively low sales left them with big net spends. Arsenal's gross outlay on players was only £50million more than City's over a five-year period, but their net spend was £480million more. The problems that stores up perhaps explain why City can now spend with abandon to help Guardiola rebuild while Arteta is still waiting for his striker. Everton were the only club to make a transfer profit from 2020-24, showing how selling was fundamental to the club's very survival during the stricken final years of Farhad Moshiri's ownership. But selling is not just about how much you make, it's about which goods you are willing to part with, and though City raised £499million by offloading players from 2022-24 it was a period where they parted with talents including Cole Palmer, Morgan Rogers, Liam Delap, James Trafford and Julián Alvarez. None look like wise disposals now. There are different ways of measuring how 'good' a player sale is. One is to compare at the price achieved to market value and, using Transfermarkt's calculations, the best business of last summer included Newcastle realising £22.2million more than market value when selling Elliot Anderson to Nottingham Forest, Bournemouth achieving £20.8million more when selling Dominic Solanke to Tottenham and Wolves extracting £13.2million more for Max Kilman than the market said he was worth. However, another way is to look at the value of the player sold a year down the line. The blossoming of Anderson at Forest suggests Newcastle actually undervalued him. On the other hand the Kilman deal looks even better from Wolves' point of view — 12 months on he is now worth £19.2million less than West Ham paid for him. City selling Alvarez to Atletico Madrid for £64million seems a bad deal by both measures. The price was £13million below the Argentina forward's market value at the time and now it is £21.4million below his market value — albeit add-ons included in the deal may allow City to recoup up to £17million. United fare dreadfully in the analysis. They have made 14 significant sales in the past three seasons, 11 of whom now valued higher than the fees received for them, with Scott McTominay, Anthony Elanga and Álvaro Carreras worth a combined £63million more. To value players, Brighton use the unique information provided by Jamestown Analytics, an offshoot of Bloom's betting data company, Starlizard. They stick to those valuations and ignore distractions: back in January 2023, Caicedo agitated to go, even posting a plea to leave on Instagram. Brighton did not go to war with their asset but calmly asked him to stay away from training until the transfer window closed and then extended his contract, to further increase his value. Only selling when a replacement has been signed or lined up is also the Brighton way. Marc Cucurella was replaced by Pervis Estupiñán, Robert Sánchez by Bart Verbruggen and Leandro Trossard by João Pedro. Caicedo himself was the replacement for Yves Bissouma and on the same day he signed for Chelsea, Brighton entered talks with Lille for his replacement, Carlos Baleba. Now Baleba, 21, is projected to be a future £100million sale but a club who made gentle inquiries came away with the impression that Brighton are unlikely to let him go until next season, because his replacement has not been identified yet. Liverpool's headaches are eased by having Michael Edwards and Richard Hughes to oversee trading. Hughes sold well at Bournemouth and squeezing €10million from Real Madrid for the last month of Alexander-Arnold's contract was remarkable even by Edwards's standards. During the building phase of the modern Liverpool, as sporting director Edwards raised £396million from sales from 2014-17 — enabling the recruitment of Virgil van Dijk, Mo Salah, Sadio Mané, Roberto Firmino, Joël Matip, Gini Wijnaldum, Adam Lallana, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, Joe Gomez and Robertson on a pretty much obscene £58million net spend. There were many coups, like persuading Bournemouth to spend a club record £15million on Jordon Ibe, and Leicester £12.5million on Danny Ward, but none beat getting Barcelona to not just lavish £142million on Philippe Coutinho but agree a clause meaning they would pay a €100million (then £89million) premium in addition to any transfer fee if they signed a Liverpool player over the next 2½ seasons. It would prove the deterrent to Barça targeting Salah and Van Dijk. Selling, like buying in the transfer market, depends on relationships with clubs, agents and players; on planning ahead and having the right handle on valuations. 'It's not rocket science,' said the senior recruiter. 'I just think it's a cultural psyche because nearly everyone in England sees winning as points but a handful of clubs like Brighton rightly see winning as selling.' His suggestion is that clubs should have player sales specialists and, the moment a player signs, already have a plan for when they might be sold and involve that player and their agent in the process. A former sporting director, now working as an agent, agrees the issue is cultural. 'Managers in England often don't want to sell because there is a mindset of holding on to your assets. Fans get pissed off when you sell someone good and clubs have egos — for example Man United don't want to sell to Real Madrid and feel they are further down the food chain.' He remembers taking a player to a club in Serie A, where selling is embedded in a culture of player trading. As his client was signing the contract and they were posing for pictures he felt a hand on his shoulder. It was the sporting director. 'Now your job is to get English clubs to watch him,' the guy said, 'so we can sell.'
