Ryanair delays hand luggage restriction until mid-January

Ryanair is holding back its cabin baggage restrictions until mid-January. Here's what you need to know.

Ryanair has shelved plans to reduce its cabin baggage allowance from November 1 until 15 January 2018.

The airline says the delay is being put in place “to allow customers more time to familiarise themselves with the policy changes”.

The move was first announced in early September, meaning we now have an extra couple of months to get ourselves 'familiarised'... 

What's changing (and what's already changed)?

Interestingly, some of the changes announced last month have already been made.

For example, the cost of checking in a 20kg bag to the hold has been reduced from £35 to £25. while you can no longer check in a smaller 15kg bag.

So what changes are being pushed back into 2018?

As it stands, you can take on up to two items of hand luggage (55cm x 40cm x 20cm) and a smaller bag like a handbag or laptop bag which has a maximum size of 35cm x 20cm x 20cm.

There's no weight limit on the smaller bag.

After mid-January you’ll still be able to take both bags through security and you can bring your smaller bag onboard but you’ll need to put the larger bag in the hold at the gate. Don’t worry, it won’t cost you any extra.

If you’d like to take two bags onto the plane, you can pay a fiver more for priority boarding.

Ryanair's chief marketing officer Kenny Jacobs said:

“From January, we will be restricting non-priority customers to one small carry-on bag (their wheelie bag will be placed in the hold, free of charge, at the boarding gate) which will speed up the boarding of flights and eliminate flight delays.

"We have already introduced the first phase of the new bag policy which offers our customers lower bag fees for a 33% increase in their check-in bag allowance. This will lead to fewer customers with two carry-on bags at the boarding gates, which is causing flight delays."

Good news or bad?

This delay is ideal for passengers flying over the festive period as it’ll be easier to lug Christmas presents home as well as their own baggage.

However, this could spell trouble in the form of delays and clogged up overhead cabins if every person is bringing hefty loads onboard.

loveMONEY readers are optimistic about the changes, with a substantial 64% believing that the baggage restrictions will cut delays (see poll results below).

And what's more, these changes could well prove something of a blessing for passengers in the long run.

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