New rules will end ‘surprise’ rip-off baggage fees – but airlines could hit holidaymakers
Airlines will be banned from offering rock-bottom flight prices before hitting passengers with additional fees to bring cabin baggage on board under new European rules.
To improve price transparency, air fares including hand luggage will need to be displayed by default before the start of any booking process to allow fare comparisons between airlines.
Passengers will be allowed to bring a free personal item with a maximum size of 40cm x 30cm x 15cm.
Plus, they will be permitted an additional cabin bag.
This means the cost advertised must include bags – instead of attempting to sell them as an optional extra later on when booking.
The rules are due to come into force in 2027, according to Business Plus.
The European Parliament announced yesterday: ‘The new rules now include the right to carry on board, without additional fee, one personal item, such as a small bag or backpack.
‘On the insistence of MEPs, price transparency and the comparability of air tickets was increased by obliging airlines, intermediaries and search portals to always display the air fare inclusive of carry-on luggage at the outset of the booking process.
Airlines will now need to include the cost of hand luggage in up-front ticket prices
‘Negotiators agreed that airlines may offer cheaper tickets for passengers who choose voluntarily to travel without hand luggage.’
So, what does this mean for passengers?
Anton Radchenko, aviation expert and founder at AirAdvisor, told the Daily Mail: ‘It’s worth clearing up a common misunderstanding first, because the new rules are often being described as cabin baggage charges being removed or scrapped, and that isn’t quite what is happening.
‘From the point the rules take effect, expected in the second half of 2027, every passenger on a flight covered by the regulation will have the right to bring one personal item on board, such as a handbag, laptop bag or small backpack, at no additional charge.
‘On top of that, airlines, booking sites and comparison engines will have to show fares that include a hand baggage allowance from the very start of the booking process, so passengers can compare the true cost of a trip across different airlines.’
How does this differ from before?
Anton explains: ‘Today, the personal item and the cabin bag are often unbundled from the headline fare. You see a low advertised price, and then the cost of bringing a bag is added later in the booking flow, or at the gate if you get it wrong.
‘That has made it genuinely difficult for passengers to compare one airline against another, because the advertised fares do not measure the same thing.
‘The change here is twofold: the free personal item becomes a guaranteed right rather than something that varies by airline, and the price you first see has to reflect the cost of carrying hand luggage.’
To improve price transparency, air fares will include a free personal item with a maximum size of 40cm x 30cm x 15cm
However, travellers who choose to fly without baggage will be able to opt out at a later stage in order to pay a lower fare.
Anton adds: ‘The one thing I would caution passengers against is assuming this means all hand luggage is now free. It does not. The guaranteed free item is the smaller personal item.
‘A larger cabin bag can still attract a charge, but the cost of it has to be visible to you upfront, rather than buried in the booking process.’
While the news may be welcomed by passengers, airlines have warned it could lead to a hike in air fares.
Budget carriers, which currently charge extra for luggage, may see a price increase in their tickets.
It’s not the only updated rule that comes under this agreement.
No-show policies for return flights are banned. This means that passengers who do not take the outbound journey cannot be denied boarding on the return flight. Airlines may not charge a fee for allowing passengers to board the return flight.
Under the deal, air travellers also maintain the right to be reimbursed or re-routed in case of cancellation, and to claim compensation if a flight is delayed by more than three hours, if it is cancelled less than 14 days before a flight, or if they are denied boarding.
Compensation for delayed or cancelled flights will depend on flight distance: €250 (£216) for journeys up to 1,500 km, €400 (£345) for journeys between 1,500 km and 3,500 km, and €600 (£519) for all other longer journeys.
In all cases, air operators will have a duty to take care of stranded passengers by providing refreshments every two hours of waiting time, a meal after three hours, and, if needed during long delays, an overnight stay of a maximum of three nights, the agreement says.
Air passengers will also no longer be charged additional fees for correcting name spelling errors or for getting a printed version of a boarding pass if they have already checked in.
It comes amid a string of new rules agreed by the European Parliament and the Council of the EU
MEPs ensured passengers with disabilities and reduced mobility (PRM) will have the right to compensation, rerouting and assistance by airlines if they miss a flight due to the airport’s failure to help them reach the gate on time.
They also made sure that families with children are not separated during seating, by obliging air carriers to ensure that any person accompanying a child below the age of 14 should be seated on an adjacent seat without paying extra.
The same right will apply to passengers with disabilities and reduced mobility, and to pregnant women.
A statement from Airlines for Europe (A4E), Europe’s largest airline association, said: ‘Thirteen years in the making, today’s deal is a missed opportunity for a balanced reform that would have delivered what passengers care about most: getting to their destination on time and having the freedom to opt for the services that matter to them.
‘Maintaining the current delay and compensation rules will not reduce or prevent delays and cancellations, most of which are outside airline control.
‘Obliging airlines to artificially inflate prices by including the cost of hand baggage in the displayed airfare contradicts established EU law protecting opt-ins instead of opt-outs.’