Hand luggage on planes: EU has no plan to impose standard rules

Brussels – Hand luggage and where to store it will remain a dilemma for the EU. The European Commission has no intention of intervening to harmonise the size requirements for airlines because, according to Transport Commissioner Apostolos Tzitzikostas, the EU executive “does not see the variations in the rules on the size of cabin baggage as an
obstacle to free movement or the functioning of the internal market.”

Therefore, passengers will need to continue to carefully check the policy on rucksacks and cabin trolleys and take note of their size. Nevertheless, an explicit request has come from the benches of the Left, with the Finnish Merja Kyllönen challenging current practices – the International Air Transport Association (IATA) recommends that hand luggage should not exceed 56 cm x 45 cm x 25 cm, but then everyone applies their own rules – and suggests to intervene as it did for the Universal charger for mobile phones and electronic devices.

 However, her parliamentary question has been dismissed: as Tzitzikostas has made clear, the Commission does not intend to take action. Free movement is not compromised, and as regards the functioning of the market, “the various practices adopted by airlines do not in themselves constitute an abusive or unfair practice and are not necessarily indicative of a breach” of the regulations. Indeed, the law. More importantly, there is a complex legal hurdle, highlighted by the first von der Leyen Commission in January 2024, in response to a resolution already adopted by the European Parliament calling for an end to the chaos surrounding hand luggage. “The resolution seems to go a little too far in asserting that the freedom of air carriers to set prices, recognised by Article 22 of the Regulations on the provision of air services, does not allow for variability in airlines’ hand luggage policies.” 

In short, Brussels wants to steer clear of legal proceedings that could arise from imposing standard hand‑luggage measures on all airlines — measures that could undermine freedom of enterprise and violate the EU’s own rules. The first von der Leyen Commission had already acknowledged “the complexity of the case,” and “the need for further analysis,” and Tzitzikostas confirms that the line has not changed. Nor will the rules on hand luggage change, for the time being. Current events dictate other priorities, starting with an end to the war in Iran and the closure of the Strait of Hormuz: the conflict could resolve the hand luggage issue by reducing the number of flights.