A trigger warning: it’ll be an extremely long rant… Click to skip straight to carry on sizing info.
For about a year now, there have been rumours circulated in travel forums about the new “standardised hand luggage/carry-on luggage size and weight restrictions across all airlines.” Today alone, I’ve spotted two articles on social media, claiming these changes *will be* implemented starting January 2025.
That’s total bullshit.
While there are ongoing discussions and recommendations in both the US and the EU, no actual industry-wide standards have been confirmed. It’s still up to each airline to decide its weight and size limitations, and it’s likely to stay that way for a few years. However, the talks are ongoing, and I, as a passenger, would welcome a more uniform understanding. The same way we should be incentivised to buy less crap in general – in the name of sustainability and sanity.
What has changed in regards to the universal hand-luggage restrictions is that European Union reintroduced the 100ml liquid limit on flights from September 1, 2024, due to delays caused by new security scanners. It was a beautiful dream, but the reality, as always, screwed us over. Hopefully, the liquid restrictions will be removed again by the end of 2025, but I guess you can take some comfort in knowing that it’s no longer our safety that is at risk by 1l bottles, it’s the queueing time 😉
Why did the “hand luggage regulation standards” myth get started?
In October 2023, the European Parliament passed a resolution advocating for “harmonised requirements”, in the name of consumer protection. The sizes floating around since then are merely suggestions. And yes, it’s the “max guaranteed” size for the passenger (not minimum required, as one loud idiot was claiming today, freaking out a bunch of people). Slightly different things, only slightly….
Similar discussions are occurring in the Americas — where we might actually see changes implemented a bit faster than in Europe because many of the airlines in the US seem to support the standardisation idea (unlike Europe, where the opposing voices are much louder).
Up until now, US airlines have been a lot less likely to charge for hand luggage (or be overly strict about the size) – because the customer is always right, even if the customer is as privileged and selfish as they come. And while everyone agrees that the situation has gotten a out of hand, there really aren’t any “acceptable solutions” available that would not sacrifice at least some of the perceived “individual rights” for common good (and what is that if not socialism?!). So American airlines literally have no other option but to team up and tackle the paradigm shift as a unified front, en masse. Regardless of “how many cultures” and “how many differences” make up US, as a market it’s still homogenous, and the customer expectations are not, in any way, defined by state lines.
Whereas on the fragmented market of Europe, we’re used to dealing with a myriad of rules and differences, and come to expect budget airlines to squeeze us for anything that could be considered an “extra”. Frankly, I am a tad bit surprised there haven’t been more developments, such as permitting airlines to charge passengers by weight, or to implement “vertical seating” – basically a standing flight position where you’d be strapped to a slightly back-leaning wall, with a little nook for your butt to take some weight off your feet (both ideas were squashed by EASA). Ooh, and remember when RyanAir wanted to charge for toilet use onboard the plane?! So if anything, I am surprised it’s not worse, because the standards – and legroom – have clearly been disappearing.
Anyway, charging for seat selection or paying extra to board first has long been the norm in Europe, and budget airlines – RyanAir, EasyJet, Wizz Air, Vueling, Norwegian Air etc – have also gotten everyone so used to the idea of having to pay for hand luggage suitcase that even high-end carriers like Finnair have started adopting similar policies.
But it also means that there is no market-driven interest from airlines to enforce the new standards. Where as for someone like US, where the majority of money comes from domestic flights, “industry-wide regulations” provide a superb cover story (especially if you can tie to international rules). And the smell is already in the air…
American Airlines was supposed to reduce their permitted carry-on size from 56x36x23 cm (22″ x 14″ x 9″) to 55x35x20 cm (21.65” x 13.78” x 7.87”) in January 2025, and there are talks about weight limitations coming soon, too… Though as of today (7th of January) nothing official has been announced. And I can’t help but wonder whether JetBlue’s decision to reverse the carry-on charges (as of September 2024) forced AmAir’s BI and PR departments into a frenzy of recalculations… While graciously allowing AirCan to take the blunt of consumer wrath…
Because they did go through with the planned policy change, and as of January 2025 the basic fare passengers of Air Canada are allowed to bring one personal item, and are charged an escalating fee for each hand luggage item… As an European, I hadn’t even realised that bringing more than 1 suitcase as a carry-on could be an option, but there you go… Anyway, the second surprise for me was the fact that this policy change only affects the cheapest ticket class. I had assumed (based on the screams!) it affects them all (ok, with the exception of business class), but that, too, may have been a strategic choice. Because the heavy criticism they’ve received for “penalizing budget travellers” could easily translate into premium class travellers having to pay double the fee in the future, all in the name of fairness…
Charge a penny today, win a pound tomorrow, and all that.
So, to be safe: which size carry-on suitcase fits most airlines?
This, of course, depends on which routes you take most frequently, and the airlines that service them – because, like said before, there are no unified standards in place or confirmed for the coming year. However… your safest bet is to opt for “Ryanair” as your guide (55 cm by 40 cm by 20 cm or, in inches: 21.7” x 15.7” x 7.9”):
- It fits even the stingiest of European airlines, and is likely to become the new “EU industry standard” requirement in a few years
- It’s already a standard size for Asia & Africa (for economy class passengers)
- It fits all US airlines with a bit of room to spare
NB! It does not mean that this size flies free – these days, especially in Europe and Asia, only a small bag fitting the “personal item requirements” (safe size 40cm x 25cm to 20cm or 15.75 inches x 9.84 inches x 7.87 inches) is guaranteed. Taking on a suitcase, too, is already a paid service for all budget airlines.
Should there ever be a world-wide or international standard established for luggage sizes, I expect the vast majority of airlines to make the switch and start charging for hand luggage, and those currently being more generous with their sizing to use this as a gateway to establish new and harsher limits.
No matter which way you look at it, the consumer will pay for the privilege of now having less. What’s worse – after having gone through tens (and tens and tens…) of airline websites, I also browsed the most popular luggage sellers to see which sizes they actually sell and promote.
And I can confirm that less than half of suitcases/duffels advertised as “carry-on size” actually fit the potential new stingy standard (or even the next common size up currently used by EU airlines!). Which means that half of hand luggage suitcases may soon become fit-for-checked-luggage-only…
So if you, like so many, have been influenced to opt for a candy- and pastel coloured object of desire from brands like Béis, Monos, Away, Tumi, Briggs & Riley, you’re almost guaranteed to need to buy a new suitcase the second the gavel hits. And yes, also the-less-coveted-but-more-quality-oriented makers such as Samsonite, Gomatic or July currently sell more bags that would not fit than those that would.
And even if you’ve narrowed your selection down by height, more than half of the suitcases are actually 23cm+ in depth. If you prefer a soft-sided case and pack it to the brim, your suitcase is likely to end up measuring 25-27cm deep at its widest part, and despite it being malleable you’d struggle to fit it if the size suitability is decided by a box rather than a cage. It’s even worse for large duffels and backpacks: despite taking up less space in the overhead lockers, they are likely to become “too fat to travel”.
So, my personal feelings about standardising hand luggage requirements are a bit conflicted.
I fly quite often, mostly on budget airlines. And I’ve seen my fair share of suitcase smacking in overhead lockers, or disputes erupting when things do not fit. In many cases (pun intended!), it’s the rounded and tapered-off shape of the locker that causes problems. Softer bags (with much bigger dimensions) will often fit better than hard cases. In short, it’s the shape rather than size that creates mayhem (besides general inconsideration for fellow passengers, but we cannot cure that).
On top of that, I’ve also started noticing (with my untrained eye supported by my ever-aching joints) that while the overhead lockers are getting roomier in newer plane models, the under-the-seat space seems to be shrinking, as is the footwell, making it harder and harder to fit both a bag as well as your feet with any reasonable comfort…
So while I absolutely salute and cherish the idea of unified standards and making things clear, I feel a bit cheated that, once again, the burden of compliance is being put solely on travellers.
Why not start by setting better spacial standards for airplanes? Why not set some kind of a forced rating system on suitcase manufacturers and sellers (similar to energy consumption labelling)? Why not make sure that the checked luggage actually does arrive, safe and sound, and can be dropped off with minor inconvenience?
Why is it the ever-suffering traveller that how is responsible for being the fix, and paying for it?!
Or if lack of SPACE is the main issue, why not charge for the use of that SPACE (and thus also reward those who manage to fit their coats and bags under the seat)?
If we take flight per capita numbers, an average American takes about 2.7 flights a year, an average Chinese 0.13 and an average European around 1.6 flights. Per year. The average cost of a decent quality suitcase is around 150-200 euros. If you travel twice a year, you’d expect your suitcase to last 10 years if not more. But… the reality is that when it comes to travel, the mathematical average and median average would be *very* different. There is a small portion of people taking a disproportionately large number of flights (20+ a year) and a big number of people flying, on average, less than once a year…
Let’s do some rough calculations, and add up 2023 numbers for top airlines in US and Europe:
- EU has a fragmented market, but the 5 that exceed 75 million passengers per year are Ryanair, Lufthansa, Air France KLM, EasyJet and IAG (group owning British Airways, Vueling, Aer Lingus etc) and these added up to 545.3 million passengers.
- US has 4 major players: AmAir, Delta, Southwest and United (the rest have considerably smaller shares of the market), who totalled up to 696 million passengers.
Let’s be *very* generous and say that the mathematical average holds, AND these are the only airlines that exist, AND that on average, each traveller actually travelled closer to 5 times a year… And we get to a lovely number of 250 million ‘unique’ passengers (reminder: just for those 9 airlines!). Let’s also assume that the average annual passenger change or “turnover” is 10% (while all studies suggest the polar opposite to be true and that the vast majority of passengers are infrequent flyers) – which means we can safely say that we’re talking about 375 million people who fly at least once in 5 years.
If all of this was true, and about half of the suitcases (actually way more, but since we’re on this super generous path already…) are “too big” for new standards, we’re talking about a collective single use investment of 28 billion euros that the consumers, and not airlines, would have to take on…
So WHY can’t the process of consumer protection start with taking a look at the airlines and their service standards as well as fees?!
And then – and only once there is an actual viable alternative to dragging as much of your stuff on or near your body! – start talking about standardising luggage as a “solution” to an issue.
At the moment, it feels like they’re trying to cure “greedy” and “stupid” by making it harder for those who already comply. And while I still agree, in the long term, we need those unifications… it has left a sour taste in my mouth.
