Ryanair is to end its long-standing practice of allowing passengers to take a 10-kilogramme piece of hand luggage for free and will charge between 6 and 10 euros ($11.44) for the service from November.
Under the new rules, passengers will still be allowed to take one “small personal bag” on board, to be placed under the seat in front.
But if a passenger wants to bring a medium-sized suitcase of up to 10-kilogrammes, they will now have to pay. They can pay between 6 and 8 euros to take it on board and put it in the overhead locker or pay between 8 and 10 euros to check it in.
The airline said it was making the change as planes were being delayed as passengers brought too much hand luggage.
Rivals easyJet, Wizz and Norwegian Air Shuttle currently all allow a medium-sized piece of hand luggage for free on short-haul flights.
Ryanair said it does not expect to make additional revenue as checking in a 10-kilogramme bag under the new system is significantly cheaper than the current cost of checking in a bag. It also said it was increasing the size allowed for all bags.