Getting a handle on cabin baggage: How confusing are the current rules, and what is changing (or not)?

Independent

29-05-2025

You know the feeling: you buy a budget airline ticket and turn up at the departure gate only to discover that you have the wrong sort of hand baggage. It might be too big for the 'sizer' at the entrance to the plane, you may have one too many items – such as a handbag as well as a laptop case.
European consumer groups are calling for such penalties to be banned, saying every passenger should be allowed to carry a roll-along bag as well as a 'personal item' such as a handbag or laptop.
How likely is this to come to pass? Simon Calder, Travel Correspondent of The Independent, has been stowing his belongings in the overhead locker for a good few years …
Have there always been cabin baggage wars?
No. A couple of decades ago, the number of questions I received about cabin baggage allowances was close to zero. But in 2006, airlines started charging for checked baggage. As the practice spread swiftly through the budget airlines and then the 'legacy' carriers, inevitably passengers started cramming whatever they could into cabin baggage.
Very quickly, the overhead bins started flowing over, and airlines spotted another revenue source: charging for taking larger pieces of cabin baggage on board.
They don't agree about the exact dimensions on the free item, either – leading to all manner of disputes at the boarding gate.
Meanwhile airlines such as British Airways see their generous two-piece allowance as a marketing edge.
Who are these European consumer groups – and what exactly do they want?
They comprise 16 national bodies from across the EU, under the main European Consumer Organisation (BEUC) umbrella. They want a consistent, generous limit on how much you can take into the aircraft.
Agustin Reyna, director general of BEUC, said: 'Consumers expect to see a small item and a piece of hand luggage when buying basic tickets.' In other words, every airline should share the British Airways two-piece allowance.
Standardisation is also important. Cabin baggage limits on flights are maddeningly complicated. Airlines come up with their own rules on the exact dimensions and weights of hand luggage.
Some charge for anything more than a small backpack, laptop case or handbag – others don't. Many 'legacy' carriers such as British Airways and North American airlines have a generous two-item allowance for cabin baggage.
But budget airlines in Europe are much more restrictive. And to make matters worse they deploy different dimensions for the free cabin baggage and a paid-for roll-along case if you want to bring one.
What do the top carriers allow?
Currently, if you normally fly on airline X, you cannot assume your bag will also be compliant on airline Y. At present the leading three budget airlines in Europe have sharply different maximum dimensions: Free bag:
Easyjet: 45 x 36 x 20cm
Ryanair: 40 x 25 x 20cm
Wizz Air: 40 x 30 x 20cm
Paid-for bag:
When converted to litres of capacity, the differences become obvious:
Easyjet: 32 free, 63 paid
Ryanair: 20 free, 44 paid
Wizz Air: 24 free, 51 paid
With easyJet around 50 per cent more generous than Ryanair, there is plenty of scope for standardisation. This could extend to 'legacy' airlines too. At present British Airways has a meagre allowance for a personal item (40 x 30 x 15cm, or 18 litres) but also a giant free cabin bag measuring 56 x 45 x 25cm (63 litres).
How likely are changes?
Already courts in Italy and Spain have come down on the side of the passenger wanting to bring two pieces of cabin baggage, with fines imposed on various budget airlines, particularly Ryanair. But the carriers believe that they will win at higher courts, because the current system offers passengers choice. They say that forcing airlines to carry almost unlimited cabin baggage will snarl up their systems and send air fares soaring.
Michael O'Leary of Ryanair says officials in Brussels 'accept that there will have to be restrictions'. He told me: 'We can only allow about half the passengers to bring a wheelie bag on board. There isn't space on board the aircraft for any more bags. So we don't think there's going to be any legislation that will impose a right – or impose on all airlines, 'You must take all these wheelie bags' – because the aircraft won't fit the bags.'
He would say that, wouldn't he?
Yes, because budget airlines make a large slab of their revenue from charging for larger items of hand luggage. Low-cost carriers refute the accusation that extra baggage charges are hidden. They say they make pricing entirely transparent. I have some sympathy with them.
Yet the airlines have brought extra attention to their policies by upping the cost of baggage to an absurd degree. On Saturday, for example, I can fly on Ryanair from Edinburgh to Cork for £17. But taking a larger piece of cabin baggage will cost an extra £19 – more than doubling the cost. No wonder the European authorities are taking a closer look at the subject.
Will the airlines be forced to change anything?
I believe they will voluntarily align cabin baggage limits. The European Parliament passed a resolution last October saying: 'EU-wide harmonisation of the requirements on the size, weight and type of carry-on and check-in luggage for all airlines operating in the European Union would enhance transparency and consumer protection for all air travellers.'