At the moment most easyJet and Ryanair passengers are only allowed to take a small personal bag on board for free
Passengers flying with Ryanair and easyJet may soon be able to take two cabin bags onboard without paying any extra charges. At the moment, these airlines allow those on a basic fare to bring one small personal item onto the plane, with any extra luggage incurring additional fees.
Ryanair has recently had to expand the dimensions of its personal bag allowance, due to a change in EU regulations. Under a new rule, travellers with the budget carrier will be entitled to take hand luggage measuring up to 40 x 30 x 20cm, representing a 20% expansion from the previous 40 x 20 x 25cm size limits.
easyJet’s dimensions are already in line with the new rule. And an additional EU law change could mean passengers are able to bring both a cabin bag measuring up to 100cm and a personal bag without extra charges.
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The proposed legislation will only be given the greenlight, though, with backing from a minimum of 55% of EU member nations. Discussions are scheduled to begin later this month.
Should it receive approval, the rule would apply to all journeys within the EU, plus routes travelling to and from the EU. European Parliament members (MEPs) are also pushing for children under 12 to be seated alongside an adult companion without additional fees.
Currently, airlines face no legal requirement to ensure children sit with family members, though the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) suggests they should do so. The CAA states: “Young children and infants who are accompanied by adults should ideally be seated in the same seat row as the adult.
“Where this is not possible, children should be separated by no more than one seat row from accompanying adults. This is because the speed of an emergency evacuation may be affected by adults trying to reach their children.”