As a girl who spends a rather hefty proportion of her time and money on flights, the prospect of no longer having to fork out for hand luggage (or don my entire wardrobe whilst scurrying past the boarding desk) was a pretty darn exciting one for me. And earlier this year, you may remember us telling you that a new set of rules could mean that airlines in Europe would no longer be able to charge passengers for hand luggage. But after over a decade of negotiations, the new EU air passenger rights have officially been confirmed – and when it comes to the hand luggage rules, there are a couple of caveats.
The new rules and regulations were formally published in the EU’s Official Journal earlier this month and are being put in place in a bid to make travel expenses more predictable and prices easier to compare for air passengers. The new rules will come into effect on October 23, 2027 and will give fliers in the EU the right to take a small personal item on board with them without paying any extra. The personal item in question must measure no more than 40x30x15cm or fit beneath the seat in front.
The recently-confirmed new rules do not, however, mean that every passenger automatically gets to take a larger cabin bag on board for free. Under the new regulations, airlines will still be able to set their own prices and policies when it comes to the bigger cabin bags. They will also still be allowed to offer cheaper tickets to those who wish to travel without larger hand luggage – and so it’s essential that passengers check what’s included in their specific ticket.
What should make things easier, though, is the fact that the new legislation means that airlines, booking intermediaries, and flight comparison sites will have to clearly display a price that includes hand luggage at the beginning of the booking process. This is to improve price transparency and ease of comparability.
Another catch worth noting is that as the UK is not part of the European Union, British airlines could still charge passengers for a personal item on flights taking off from the UK. They will have to honour the rules on any flights departing from an airport within the EU, though.
Whether or not a specific flight is covered by the new rules depends on where you’re flying from and which airline is operating your flight, rather than your nationality. So, flights departing from Britain that are operated by an EU airline will likely still be covered by the new rules – but you should check the baggage allowance of each separate leg of your journey to be sure.
