4 days ago
Two European airlines to start charging for hand luggage with new ‘no-frills' fares
TWO EUROPEAN airlines are set to introduce a new 'no frills' fare, cutting free luggage.
KLM and Air France will be testing a new 'basic' ticket on select European routes with travellers only allowed to bring a small personal item on board.
The maximum measurements for this bag will be 40x30x15cm and will be free of charge.
Standard cabin baggage will now have to be purchased for an extra fee.
The new basic fare will initially be rolled out on 10 medium haul routes, for non-stop flights starting September 9, 2025.
The routes being included in the trial are Helsinki, Finland; Tunis-Carthage, Tunisia; Athens, Greece; Vienna, Austria; Dublin, Ireland; Stockholm Arlanda, Sweden; Munich, Germany; Turin, Italy; Florence, Italy and Prague, Czech Republic.
No changes will be made to long-haul fares.
The new fare will be implemented alongside existing 'light', 'standard' and 'flex' fare offers.
If passengers wish to add hand luggage, they will still be able to for an additional fee up to four hours before departure.
The cost for this will start from €15 (£13.10) per leg.
Many airlines use a similar model to this, such as Ryanair.
The model allows airlines to offer cheaper fares whilst giving passengers the option to pay for additional luggage if needed.
The Sun's Travel Editor Lisa Minot shares her expert packing tips
Recently, Ryanair announced that they would be changing the size of hand luggage allowance from 40x20x25cm to 40x30x20cm - an increase of 5cm.
The new size means that Ryanair's free hand luggage capacity has risen from 20 litres to 24 litres.
The new rules are expected to be introduced later this month, which means airports will need to update their baggage sizers.
These are five cabin bags under £20 that fit Ryanair's new hand luggage rules including Amazon buy that fits 11 days worth of clothes.
Plus, UK may ban airlines from charging for hand luggage – but it could hike your flight price, experts warn.
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