Overview

• BEUC, the umbrella group for 44 consumer organisations, has urged the EU to investigate seven airlines including Ryanair and easyJet and impose uniform cabin baggage limits that guarantee both a personal item and a roll-along bag on basic fares.
• Recent rulings in Spanish and Italian courts sided with passengers, fining budget carriers for charging extra fees on reasonably sized hand luggage.
• The European Parliament passed a resolution in October advocating EU-wide standardisation of hand and checked baggage dimensions to enhance transparency and consumer protection.
• Budget airlines contend that mandating larger cabin baggage allowances would lead to full overhead bins and force them to increase ticket prices.
• Under current policies, free hand luggage allowances vary sharply, with easyJet permitting a 45x36x20cm bag compared to Ryanair’s 40x25x20cm limit.