Passengers will no longer be able to put a second bag in the hold for free.
Ryanair has announced that it is to end its long-standing practice of allowing passengers to take a 10kg piece of hand luggage for free, instead charging between £5.50 - £9 for the service from November.
From 1 November, a fee will be charged to passengers who wish to bring a second piece of hand luggage on a Ryanair flight, unless they are a priority boarding customer.
From that date, a passenger who wants to bring a medium-sized suitcase of up to 10kg with them has two options:
- They can pay between £5.50 - £7.20 to put it in the overhead locker above them.
- Or they can pay between £7.20 - £9 to check it in.
The airline revealed the news on Thursday, claiming that 60% of its customers will not be affected by the charges as 30% of them already buy priority boarding and another 30% travel with just one single small cabin bag.
Currently, 'non-priority' passengers are permitted take two small bags onto the plane, once the larger of the two weighs less than 10kg. These pieces of luggage must then be placed in the hold at that point. This action is free.
Under the new rules, passengers will still be allowed to take one “small personal bag” on board, to be placed under the seat in front.
From November 1, the 10kg bag can no longer be placed in the hold for free.
As well as this, Ryanair is also introducing a new, £7.20 fee for 10kg check-in bags - which must be checked at landside bag drop facilities.
The change is designed to reduce prolonged bag tagging at the gate, a process that "has been causing delays" to the company's flight times. Ryanair prides itself on its speedy turnarounds.
Spokespeople at Micheal O'Leary's budget airline also said that the company does not expect to make money from this venture, as checking in a 10kg bag (£7.20) under the new system is significantly cheaper than the current cost of checking in a 20kg bag (£22.50).
Bag-size allowances have been increased, however. Size allowances for free, small carry-on bags will also be increased from 35 x 20 x 20cm to 40 x 20 x 25cm as part of the new policy – a significant increase.
These bags must still fit under seats, however.
