A few weeks ago, we reported a story about Ryanair getting annoyed with passengers and the size of their carry on bags. A spokesperson for Ryanair said passengers were “flouting” the rules and their actions were the cause of flight delays – If the situation didn’t improve, the airline would review its kinder approach to carry on bags.
Well, it looks like things haven’t got any better. Now, Ryanair is going to seriously limit the amount of luggage that passengers can bring on board with them – and its labelling the move part of its ‘Always Getting Better’ programme. It’s a massive turnaround for an airline which has only been allowing passengers to bring more than one piece of baggage into the cabin for the past couple of years.
Ryanair explained that their policy had simply been a victim of its own success. In a statement, the low-cost carrier explained: “too many customers are availing of Ryanair’s improved 2 free carry-on bags service.” With record load factors (up to 97% in August), there simply wasn’t enough room in the overhead bins for everyone’s baggage – and that was causing delays.
So what are the main changes? Here’s a rundown on how the policy might affect your plans:
New hand luggage guidelines
- You’ll only be able to take two bags on board the aircraft if you’ve paid extra for ‘Priority Boarding’.
- All other customers will have to check their larger bag in at the gate for it to be loaded into the aircraft hold.
- If you need to gate check a bag then it will go in the hold free of charge.
- Priority Boarding costs an extra €5 at the time of booking or €6 to add afterwards (up to 1 hour before departure).
“We hope that by restricting non-priority customers to one small carry-on bag… this will speed up the boarding of flights and eliminate flight delays,” explained Ryanair’s Kenny Jacobs. However, Jacobs did have a sweetener for passengers who might feel a little aggrieved by these plans.
Lower fee’s and an increased weight allowance on checked bags
In what marks a significant move for the airline, Ryanair will not only reduce its checked bag fee’s but also increase the weight limit as well. Here’s a rundown of those changes:
- Checked baggage allowance increases from 15kg to 20kg for all bags.
- Checked bag fee decreases from €35 to €£25
- The reduced fee is only available at the time of booking – otherwise, it will set you back €40.
- A €10 extra ‘supplement’ will be added at Easter and Christmas as well as on some of Ryanair’s longer routes.
Jacob’s was at pains to explain these changes were, in fact, being made to improve the passenger experience – pointing out that Ryanair would lose money as a result of the policy turn: “These bag policy changes will cost Ryanair over €50m p.a. in reduced checked bag fees,” said Jacobs.
The new fees and policy will come into effect from 1st November. Until then, you should still be allowed to take two carry on bags onboard the aircraft.
