Ireland and Belgium Push EU Rethink on Airline Carry‑On Fees

Growing pressure from Ireland and Belgium to clamp down on controversial carry-on luggage fees is accelerating a wider European rethink of how airlines price hand baggage, testing the foundations of Ryanair’s ultra-low-cost model.

National Regulators Turn Up the Heat on Hand Luggage Fees

Across Europe, governments and consumer bodies are sharpening scrutiny of how airlines charge for cabin baggage, and Ireland and Belgium are emerging as focal points in that debate. Publicly available information shows that both countries have become testing grounds for how far regulators can go in curbing surcharges on basic travel items without rewriting European Union legislation.

In Belgium, long-running legal action brought by consumer association Test Achats against Ryanair and other low-cost carriers has forced courts to examine whether carry-on charges amount to deceptive pricing. A complaint filed at European level by several consumer groups alleged that passengers often discover significant extra costs for a small trolley bag only after selecting a headline fare, arguing that such practices distort price comparison and undermine transparent competition.

Irish regulators, meanwhile, have been under mounting domestic pressure as home-based Ryanair has continued to rely heavily on ancillary revenues, including baggage fees. According to sector reports, add-ons such as priority boarding, larger cabin bags and seat selection now represent a substantial share of income for budget airlines, prompting calls in Ireland for closer alignment with emerging European Parliament guidance on what should be included in a basic fare.

Together, the Belgian and Irish cases illustrate how national authorities are attempting to redefine the limits of “no-frills” flying within existing EU law, rather than waiting for a full rewrite of passenger-rights regulation.

Court Battles in Belgium Clarify What Airlines Can Charge

Recent court rulings in Brussels have become central to the future of carry-on fees across the single market. A decision by the Brussels Commercial Court earlier this year examined Ryanair’s online sales practices, addressing the way the airline presents baggage options and surcharges during booking. According to published coverage, the court ordered Ryanair to curb certain marketing techniques it considered misleading, such as unclear luggage pricing on round trips and aggressive urgency messages about limited seats.

At the same time, the court upheld one of the pillars of Ryanair’s model by confirming that its cabin baggage policy complies with EU rules and earlier European Court of Justice interpretations. The judgment endorsed the airline’s right to limit the free item to a small personal bag and to levy a charge on larger cabin bags, provided conditions are clearly disclosed to consumers.

Ryanair has highlighted a related ruling from another Brussels court which stated that neither EU regulation nor previous case law obliges airlines to accept, free of charge, a cabin bag larger than the size it chooses to authorise. Industry analysts say the Belgian decisions effectively validate the principle of charging for a second or larger carry-on, while tightening the framework around how those fees are advertised and explained.

The nuanced outcome means Belgium is now seen by legal observers as a reference point for future disputes, balancing consumer demands for transparent pricing with airlines’ insistence on the freedom to unbundle services.

Ireland’s Home Carrier Tweaks Cabin Rules Under European Pressure

While Belgian courts focused on legal boundaries, Ryanair has been quietly adjusting its product in response to political and consumer headwinds that extend well beyond one jurisdiction. In mid-2025 the airline announced an increase in the size of the free personal item allowed for all passengers, expanding the permitted dimensions of the under-seat bag by several centimetres. Irish travel industry reports indicate that from late summer 2025 the standard free item rose to around 40 by 30 by 20 centimetres, a roughly one-third increase in volume compared with the earlier benchmark.

Ryanair subsequently completed the rollout of larger bag sizers at more than two hundred airports across Europe to reflect the updated allowance. Corporate communications framed the move as a customer-friendly enhancement and stressed that passengers who stay within the new, more generous limits will not face gate charges for their personal item.

Despite these adjustments, the carrier continues to treat anything beyond that under-seat bag as a paid extra. Priority customers can bring an additional, larger cabin suitcase, while others must either purchase priority boarding or check a bag into the hold. Irish consumer advocates argue that these layered options still make it difficult for travellers to compare total journey costs across airlines, particularly on competitive short-haul routes.

The incremental change in Ireland is therefore seen less as a retreat from the low-cost model and more as a tactical response to intensifying EU scrutiny, designed to show responsiveness on cabin comfort without giving up the revenue generated by larger carry-on pieces.

EU Lawmakers Push for Harmonised Carry-On Standards

The broader context for these national developments is a long-running effort in Brussels to harmonise rules on cabin baggage across the bloc. Members of the European Parliament have repeatedly called on the European Commission to propose EU-wide standards on dimensions and on the inclusion of at least one cabin bag in the base ticket price. A resolution adopted in recent years argued that inconsistent rules between airlines create confusion, delays at boarding and unfair extra costs for passengers.

Parliamentary documents frequently cite a 2014 judgment by the Court of Justice of the European Union involving Spanish carrier Vueling, which held that airlines cannot impose a surcharge on hand luggage that meets reasonable size and weight requirements and respects safety rules. Consumer organisations in Belgium, Spain and several other countries have used that decision as the legal backbone for challenges to current carry-on fee structures implemented by low-cost airlines.

However, travel law specialists note that the court ruling left considerable room for interpretation regarding what constitutes “reasonable” dimensions and did not impose a single mandatory standard across Europe. That gap has allowed airlines to offer only a small personal item for free and to classify larger trolleys as optional extras. Until the Commission tables concrete legislative proposals, enforcement will continue to depend largely on national authorities and courts, as seen in the Irish and Belgian cases.

This patchwork approach is prompting calls from industry and consumer groups alike for greater clarity, with some arguing that harmonised cabin-bag rules could streamline operations and reduce disputes at the gate, even if it requires modifications to current pricing structures.

Pressure on Ryanair’s Budget Model and the Future of Ultra-Low Fares

Ryanair’s business strategy has long depended on stripping the base fare down to transport alone and charging separately for almost every additional service. Company filings and independent analyses indicate that ancillary revenues, including seat selection, priority boarding, checked baggage and larger carry-on bags, now account for roughly one-third of total income. Any move by EU institutions or national regulators to mandate more generous free cabin-bag allowances would therefore strike at a key profit lever for the airline.

Belgian and Spanish enforcement actions have already shown how national measures can affect that calculus, even in the absence of a single European rule. Spain in 2024 imposed significant fines on several low-cost carriers, including Ryanair, over their hand luggage policies, underscoring a willingness among some governments to challenge fee structures by invoking consumer protection law.

For now, Ryanair appears intent on defending its overall model while making targeted concessions, such as enlarging the free personal item and emphasising that passengers who travel light can still access very low advertised fares. Aviation analysts suggest that if Ireland and Belgium succeed in pushing the EU toward stricter carry-on standards, the airline may respond by slightly raising base fares or by redesigning bundles so that a standard-sized cabin suitcase is included, with other services unbundled instead.

What is clear is that the debate over hand luggage has evolved from a niche consumer complaint into a central question about the sustainability of ultra-low fares in Europe. Developments in Ireland and Belgium over the coming months are expected to provide an early indication of how far regulators are prepared to go, and how flexibly Ryanair and its rivals can adapt without abandoning the budget pricing that has transformed European travel over the past two decades.