Ryanair delays introduction of new cabin bag policy

Ryanair is delaying the introduction of its new cabin bag policy until the middle of January next year, the company has said.

In September the airline effectively ditched its policy of allowing customers to bring two bags on board the plane without charge. The new policy, due to come into force in November, meant passengers would have to pay €5 or £5 for priority boarding if they wanted to bring a wheelie bag into the cabin.

At that time the low-fares airline changed its weight limit for check-in bags, whereby standard bags could have a weight limit of 20kg, up from 15kg, and the standard fee was to be cut from €35 to €25, or from £35 to £25.

Under the revised scheme, passengers who had not paid for priority boarding would have been restricted to bringing one smaller bag – maximum size 35cm by 20cm by 20cm – aboard; while their normal cabin bag would have had to be left at the boarding gate where it would be put in the hold free of charge.

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While Ryanair is not rowing back on the changes to the policy it has delayed the date to mid-January to “to allow customers more time to adjust to the changes”.

"We will delay the introduction of our new cabin bag rules until January 15th, 2018, to allow our customers more time to familiarise themselves with the policy changes," Ryanair's Kenny Jacobs said.

Citing a desire to eliminate flight delays, Mr Jacobs said the new policy would lead to fewer customers with two carry-on bags at the boarding gates, which he believes will speed up the boarding of flights.