EasyJet boarding delays and price rise warning if 'lunatic' bag rule given green light

Brand new baggage rules for those flying across Europe could lead to long delays and cost of your tickets going up, easyJet has warned.

And the changes, if approved by the European Parliament, would impact all airlines flying in and out of the EU including Ryanair, British Airways, TUI, Jet2, and Aer Lingus.

It's all to do with making the size of the bag you take on to the plane bigger. And doing this free of charge.

On the face of it this sounds like a great deal, with politicians also demanding you get a second free bag with this bigger suitcase. But the consequence is going to be terrible for our spare time and bank accounts, easyJet warns.

EU bag rule changes

As it stands, the European Parliament has backed a broader passenger rights reform package by a huge majority, which is expected to lead to new bag rules for all flights in the EU.

It'd see passengers given free cabin bags of up to 100cm in length, weighing 7kg, as well as a personal bag with no charge applied.

At the moment, customers can bring one small bag with them on planes that must fit under the seat in front of them. Ryanair's policy was recently changed after the EU made them increase the size of this bag from 40cm x 30cm x 20cm to 40cm by 20cm by 25cm.

The changes are not law yet, with the final decision lying with the European Commission and the Council of the EU; with the latter needing national governments to agree to the protocol.

If approved, these could become law by late 2026 and failing that, in time for the busy summer season in 2027.

There's not enough room for more bags, airlines have said (Jakub Porzycki/NurPhoto via Getty Images)

EasyJet warns of high costs and delays

Chief executive of easyJet, Kenton Jarvis, labelled the policy as 'lunatic' that would be spell awful news for the customer despite the initial appeal of it being a good thing.

Earlier this year, he described the move as 'politicians completely not understanding their subject and getting involved with things they shouldn't'.

Jarvis added: "There just isn't the space in the cabin, so that's another lunatic idea.

"We would go back to the days of having to offload cabin bags and put them in the hold; it was one of the number one causes of delayed boarding in the old days.

"I just can’t explain how stupid it would be, just crazy European legislation."

The infamous Ryanair bag size checker (Beata Zawrzel/NurPhoto via Getty Images)

The feeling is mutual over at Ryanair, with boss Michael O'Leary previously saying there isn't enough space on their aircraft for more baggage.

"We can only allow about half the passengers to bring a wheelie bag on board. There isn’t space on board the aircraft for any more bags," he said last year.

“So we don’t think there’s going to be any legislation that will impose a right, impose on all airlines, ‘You must take all these wheelie bags’ - because the aircraft won’t fit the bags."

With baggage fees making up significant portions of the annual takings for the likes of easyJet and its competitors, with Jarvis saying any lost revenue would have to be 'passed on' to the customer.