Ryanair passengers can now take bigger bags on all flights for free

PASSENGERS flying with Ryanair can now take a bigger hand luggage bag onboard with them for free.

It was revealed in July that Ryanair was increasing its bag size from 40x20x25cm to 40x30x20cm, an increase of 5cm – and it has now been rolled out in airports across Europe.

Ryanair is allowing its passengers to take bigger hand luggage bags onboard for free[/caption]

The old bag sizers have been replaced in all the airports Ryanair uses in Europe[/caption]

Ryanair was waiting for the new carry-on bag sizers at 235 airports where the airline operates to be rolled out before allowing customers to bring bigger bags onboard.

As of September 4, 2025, Ryanair revealed its carry-on sizers are at every one of the check-in areas.

Ryanair passengers are now allowed to bring a bigger, free personal bag measuring at 40x30x20cm on its planes.

It’s an increase of 5cm compared to the previous allowance – the overall capacity has increased too from 20 litres to 24 litres.

In terms of other airlines, the allowance is 33 per cent bigger than the EU standard free carry-on bag which measures at 40x30x15 cm.

Ryanair allows each passenger to bring one free carry-on bag on board, but these bags must be able to fit under each passenger’s seat.

Ryanair’s CMO, Dara Brady said: “Our bag sizers at all airports have now been “resized” to accommodate this bigger, free carry-on bag.

“All passengers wishing to bring a second carry bag can do so by availing of our Priority Boarding service, and passengers can also purchase check-in bags, should they so wish, during their booking process.

“We hope our customers will enjoy these bigger, free carry-on bag sizes, but any passenger who fails to comply with these new generous limits, will be required to pay the checked in bag fee at the boarding gate.”

Any Ryanair passengers who try to take on a bag that doesn’t fit could be charged up to £75, depending on the route and travel date.

Passengers need to pay attention to the dimensions of their bags as the Ryanair staff will be too.

Ryanair boss revealed recently that the airline is planning to raise bonuses for staff that spot passengers attempting to take oversized bags on flights.

The airline plans to raise the current incentive for its gate staff from €1.50 (£1.29) to €2.50 (£2.16) per bag, from November.

Speaking at a press conference, CEO Micheal O’Leary said he makes “absolutely no apology” for catching people who are “scamming the system”.

If holidaymakers want to travel with more luggage, they’ll need to pay a fee.

Another change Ryanair is making from this year is that it’s going completely paperless and in some cases there will be no check-in desk at all.

Additional bags are allowed but come with an additional fee[/caption]

From November 3, 2025 the airline will no longer accept printed boarding passes and will take digital passes only.

And there are no exceptions as check-in desks will not be able to print them out at the airport.

Some airports don’t accept mobile passes including those in Morocco and Turkey (except Dalaman), and Tirana airport in Albania.

Anyone travelling from these airports will need to download their boarding pass from the email confirmation or from the app, print it and keep it to hand.

Here’s the full list of UK airline hand luggage rules explained.

And here’s more on Ryanair which is set to cancel all flights to three Spanish airports – affecting two million passengers.

Passengers flying with Ryanair can now take larger hand luggage bags onboard[/caption]