EU Puts Passengers First With Free Carry-On Bags And Stronger Traveler Rights

The European Parliament and Council of the EU will soon implement a number of EU-based traveler reforms, giving air passengers even more travel rights and benefits. In 2027, EU air passengers will benefit from a number of changes including having carry-on luggage and personal items included as part of the ticket price.

Carry-on luggage and personal items now free

Currently, depending on which airline passengers in the EU fly on, they may be charged extra to fly with a personal item and/or carry-on bag. This is very common among the low-cost carriers like Ryanair, EasyJet and Wizz Air, who offer the most basic of fares, with bag perks available for an additional fee.

Under the new policy, passengers will be able to fly with one personal item and one carry-on bag for free, as airlines will now be mandated to include this within the original ticket. There are some restrictions though. Personal items can only measure a maximum of 40 x 30 x 15 cm (15.7 x 11.8 x 5.9 inches), while carry-on bags going in the overhead bins can only weigh a maximum of 7 kg/15.4 lbs, with total dimensions not exceeding 100cm/39.4 inches.

What about those not flying with any bags? Airlines will also be mandated to offer a discounted fare option if passengers choose not to fly with any form of baggage.

Removed penalties and associated fees

The EU will also mandate that certain actions will no longer be punishable by a fee or ticket cancelation. For instance, spelling corrections or name changes will no longer attract a fee. Families traveling together can also expect to be given the option to sit together without an additional fee being charged.

Certain no-show policies have to be scrapped as well. For instance, if a passenger misses the outbound leg of their flight, they will be allowed to take the return flight without having to worry about their entire ticket being invalidated. Sometimes passengers may choose alternative forms of transportation to get to their destination for whatever reason, and this change now means they won’t be forced to buy a new ticket for the return segment.

Apps for mobile boarding passes no longer mandatory

This is mainly an issue that affects Ryanair customers, but the EU will mandate that passengers will no longer be forced to download an airline-specific app in order to generate boarding passes.

All other policies (e.g. delay compensation) remain largely the same. I suspect carriers won’t be too fond of the changes, and will increase ticket prices to suit, especially with fuel prices on the rise. The EU did say they will leave price regulation within the hands of the respective airlines as they did not want to overregulate the industry.

However, it’s good to see some of the power balance being restored. Airlines will have less of an opportunity to entice customers with dirt cheap fares, only to tack on charges for the air they breathe after the fact. The latter bit is a joke if you were thinking of forwarding this to the legal time.

These changes will be implemented some time in 2027, and applicability depends on where the flight originates into and out of Europe, and which airlines operate these flights. For instance, a Ryanair flight operating into/out of Europe will be subjected to these changes, but a Ryanair flight within the UK won’t benefit as that ticket is covered by UK261.

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