Carry-on bags to be free on all EU flights

Apparently, according to a new EU Parliament ruling, hand luggage will be included in the price of an airline ticket. The ruling will take effect in 2027, and airlines will be required to include both a carry-on bag and a personal item in the ticket price on all EU flights, eliminating the current carry-on fees.

Now, I am not sure how this will work in practice. There are four types of luggage you can take with you today:

1. A personal item

2. Under-seat hand luggage

3. Carry-on luggage (overhead compartment)

4. Checked luggage

The new ruling, which comes after a decade of negotiations, talks about a small wheeled cabin bag of up to 7 kg that will be included in the ticket price, as well as a small personal bag. But what about the under-seat bag that is currently free of charge and is what I actually carry these days in order to make my life easier and lighter?

Also starting in 2027, passengers who choose to travel light, the ruling says, can still opt out for a discount. To me, it sounds like, instead of charging a fee for the wheeled cabin bag, airlines will be including that fee in the ticket price, making it appear as "free of charge" during booking. That's why I say we need to wait and see how this will really pan out in practice.

In response to the EU Parliament ruling, Ryanair CEO Michael O'Leary said that the changes are "stupid regulations and bureaucratic bunkum". He said the rules will force budget airlines to hide their cheapest fares and push up basic ticket prices by about eight euros. According to Ryanair, half of its customers travel without a second cabin bag, which is my case. However, it's well known that many passengers prefer to pay for a checked bag rather than paying for a second cabin bag.

Airlines may offer cheaper tickets to passengers who choose to travel without hand luggage.

The same ruling says airlines will guarantee free seating for children next to their parents, which makes sense, for a change.

If a flight is delayed for three hours or longer, passengers are entitled to compensation of between €250 and €600, depending on the flight. However, airlines do not have to pay compensation if the delay or cancellation is due to natural disasters, war, weather conditions, unruly passengers, or strikes by airports, air navigation services, or ground-handling service providers, which, in my view, makes sense, as all of the above are circumstances beyond an airline's control.

One important part of the new ruling bans airlines such as Ryanair from forcing passengers to download a mobile app in order to obtain a boarding pass.

Some other measures aimed at protecting passenger rights include a ban on charging fees for correcting spelling errors or changing passenger names on tickets, as well as a ban on "no-show" penalties on return flights.

We'll see how this goes in real life. I am a little sceptical when I hear about the introduction of rulings such as this one. The fact is that air travel has become more and more tedious, difficult, and stressful over the last few years. If air travel doesn't improve and passengers are not treated better, there could be a significant shift towards ground travel. Trains and coaches are currently offering better services and much lower prices, together with the convenience of a good luggage allowance and overall less stress.

Travelling across Europe by train or coach takes more time, as I recently experienced. Yet the journey was interesting and far more relaxing than going to and through airports, airport security, and all the general stress that today's air travel entails.