Ryanair is introducing a new cabin bag policy from Monday which means passengers will have to pay €5 or £5 for priority boarding if they want to bring a wheelie bag or other large carry-on bag into the cabin.
Those who opt not to pay for priority boarding can still avoid both the check-in desk and luggage charges, and will still be allowed to bring two free carry-on bags on their flight. However, they will be required to put the bigger of the two in the hold at the boarding gate, and thus will have to wait on arrival to pick it up off the carousel.
There will be no additional charge from the airline for putting the bag in the hold, and the maximum size of the bag which non-priority passengers can bring on board is 35cm by 20cm by 20cm.
Ryanair spokesman Kenny Jacobs said the new policy will "eliminate boarding delays and improve our on-time departures".
The measure was supposed to have been introduced at the beginning of last November, but was postponed by the airline as a result of its rostering debacle which forced it to cancel thousands of flights.
The airline also recently sigalled a change to its weight limit for check-in bags. It means that standard bags can now weigh up to 20kg, up from 15kg previously, while the fee has also been cut, from from € 35 to € 25, or from £35 to £25.
The changes are part of an overhaul of Ryanair’s baggage policy.
Mr Jacobs said he hoped passengers will “enjoy this new and simplified bag policy”.
He added: “This new policy is centred around lower checked-bag fees and bigger bag allowances and we have notified by email all our customers travelling from Monday.”
