Ryanair says no more cabin-baggage changes this year

Airline says it is ‘really happy’ with hand-luggage policy, though accepts ‘not everybody likes it’

After rolling out its third cabin-baggage policy this year, Ryanair has promised not to change its rules again before the end of 2018.

Speaking exclusively to The Independent, Kenny Jacobs, the airline’s chief marketing officer, said: “We’re really happy with the latest one because it’s improved punctuality 12 per cent.”

At the start of November, the amount of hand luggage allowed onboard a Ryanair flight without paying extra shrank by almost two-thirds to one “small personal bag” with a maximum volume of 20 litres and a weight of 10kg.

The UK’s biggest budget airline, easyJet, allows 63 litres and has no weight limit. British Airways’ maximum is two pieces with a total volume of 81 litres and a weight of 46kg.

Ryanair passengers who wish to bring more must either pay extra for priority boarding, which enables them to bring an extra cabin bag, or pay £8 or more to check in a case.

But Mr Jacobs said: “So far we’ve had good feedback from customers and airports.

“Not everybody likes it, but if you’re used to travelling with us you’ll get used to the new policy.

“A lot of customers are saying ‘I don’t have to pay £25 for a 20kg bag, I’ll just check in a 10kg bag for £8,’ and it really has improved the boarding experience.”

Ryanair has stopped warning against the risk of flights between the EU and UK being grounded after Brexit, following a European Commission offer of a “bare bones” agreement to keep planes flying even in the event of the UK leaving with no deal.

But Mr Jacobs warned that the winter will be tough for carriers as they compete for business: “You’ve already seen some airlines go out of business and some airlines say they need a big brother to come and buy them, Flybe being an example here in the UK.”

On Tuesday easyJet reported healthy profits, but saw its share price drop 5 per cent because of concerns about weak demand.

“For consumers, it’s a great time because air fares are down,” said Mr Jacobs. The average Ryanair fare in the UK is now less than £35, and it’s going to get cheaper in the coming six months.”

He said that this week had seen Ryanair’s biggest-ever day for bookings. The airline declined to say how many seats were sold.

But with passenger carryings of almost 400,000 per day the airline must sell at an average rate of 270 seats per minute in order to fill its aircraft.