Now Ryanair charges you for hand luggage

RYANAIR passengers will soon have to pay for priority boarding if they want to take a second item of hand luggage on board.

The budget airline currently lets each customer carry a larger bag and a smaller one on to its aircraft free of charge.

But yesterday it announced it is reducing the limit to one, so if, for example, a passenger arrives at the check-in desk with a handbag and a carry-on wheelie suitcase, the larger one will be put in the hold.

While there will be no charge for this, passengers will face the inconvenience of having to collect luggage from the baggage carousel at their destination.

Ryanair warned that anyone who refuses to put one of their carryon bags in hold – for example because it contains valuables – will be blocked from travelling and will not be entitled to a refund.

Only those who pay £5 for priority boarding – or £6 if booked up to an hour before flying – will be able to bring two bags on board.

Those flying with babies will still be able to bring on a small changing bag weighing up to 5kg.

At the same time, the fee for a standard check-in bag will be reduced from £35 to £25 and the hold allowance for an item will increase from 15kg to 20kg. How- ever, Ryanair said it will continue to charge a £10 ‘supplement fee’ at Easter, Christmas and on longer flights in the summer holidays, reflecting ‘increased handling costs of significant additional checked bags during these busy periods’.

The firm said its new baggage policy – which will come into force from November 1 – is designed to reduce boarding and flight delays. Since the policy of allowing passengers to bring on two bags free was introduced in 2014, there have been more delays because the last customers boarding have often had to put one in the hold because there is insufficient space on the plane for so much hand luggage.

James Daley, of the campaign group Fairer Finance, said: ‘This is a problem Ryanair created for themselves. By charging people a lot of money to check in bags, everybody has tried as hard as possible to avoid this. After years of treating customers with contempt, many will be suspicious of this.’

Ryanair has frequently been criticised for the extra charges it levies on customers. But the airline’s Kenny Jacobs insisted this is not a ‘money-making exercise’, saying the new policy will cost it more than £46million a year in reduced fees from checked-in bags.

Ryanair’s rival easyJet lets passengers take only one bag on board. They can take another smaller bag if they have paid for extra legroom or a seat at the front of the plane, or have an infant on their lap.

EasyJet charges between £13 and £30 for hold luggage.