Editorial Team
Our content team
5 min read
632 votes in favour. 15 against. On January 21, 2026, the European Parliament sent a very clear message to budget airlines: stop charging passengers for bringing a bag on board.
If you fly Ryanair, easyJet, or Wizz Air regularly, you probably know the drill. Book a cheap flight, feel great about the price, then get hit with cabin bag fees that sometimes cost more than the ticket itself. That could be about to change. But there's a catch.
What the EU Parliament Actually Voted For
The vote wasn't close. According to Euronews, MEPs backed a position that would force airlines to include two items for free with every ticket:
Personal item: up to 40x30x15 cm (fits under the seat)
Small cabin bag: maximum 100 cm total edge length (length + width + height), weighing up to 7 kg
Here's the part that trips people up. A standard cabin trolley measures 55x40x20 cm. Add those numbers and you get 115 cm. That's 15 cm over the proposed limit. So your typical carry-on suitcase? It wouldn't actually qualify as the free bag under the Parliament's proposal. Consumer groups in Germany have already criticised this gap, arguing the limit should be at least 115 cm.
What Ryanair Hand Luggage Costs You Right Now
Currently, Ryanair hand luggage (Coming Soon) rules work like this: you get a small personal item (40x30x20 cm) for free with a standard ticket. Want to bring a cabin trolley? You need Priority Boarding, which costs anywhere from 8 to 36 euros per flight. And that's just Ryanair.
Wizz Air hand luggage fees can hit 58.80 euros for the Wizz Priority package. easyJet is actually more generous than the other two, allowing a free bag up to 56x45x25 cm, though you still pay for checked luggage.
These fees add up fast. Ryanair alone pulled in 1.39 billion euros from ancillary revenue in Q1 of their fiscal year 2026, roughly a third of their total income. That's baggage fees, seat selection, priority boarding, all of it.
No wonder Airlines for Europe, the airline lobby group that represents Ryanair, easyJet, and others, is fighting the reform hard.
So When Does Free Cabin Baggage Actually Happen?
This is where expectations need a reality check. The Parliament has voted, yes. But this isn't law yet. Not even close.
The reform is currently in trilateral negotiations between Parliament, the EU Council (representing member states), and the European Commission. These talks started in March 2026, and from what we can tell, there's no quick resolution in sight.
A realistic timeline? Late 2026 for a possible agreement. Then airlines would need a transition period to update their booking systems. Most experts I've read put the actual implementation at some point in 2027.
For your summer 2026 flights, the old rules still apply. Don't show up at the Ryanair gate expecting a free trolley.
What Travelers Should Know Right Now
If you've already booked summer flights with Ryanair, easyJet, or Wizz Air, nothing changes yet. The current EU cabin baggage rules (Coming Soon) are still in place.
But the direction is clear. The EU Parliament's vote (Coming Soon) was overwhelming. Passenger advocacy groups have filed lawsuits against airlines (Coming Soon) over baggage fees, and courts have already ruled in their favour in at least one case against Vueling.
The pressure on budget carriers isn't going away. Even Ryanair quietly expanded their free bag size from 40x20x25 cm to 40x30x20 cm in September 2025. Small step, but it shows the wind is blowing in one direction.
