Will hand luggage become free? What the new EU regulation says

The regulation defines the term in Article 2, point (ah). A personal item is a piece of unchecked baggage that complies with security and safety requirements and either has maximum dimensions of 40 × 30 × 15 cm or fits under the seat in front of the passenger's seat. The definition sets no weight.

So the definition gives two alternatives, but does not say whether it is the passenger or the airline who chooses which one applies. Whether a bag that fits under the seat but is larger than 40 × 30 × 15 cm must always be accepted is therefore not clear from the text.

The recitals – the numbered statements of reasons at the start of the regulation – give an idea of what is meant. As examples of items that are essential for the duration of the journey, recital 42 mentions passports and other travel documents, essential medicines, personal devices and reading materials, as well as food and drink appropriate to the length of the flight.

Under Article 2, point (ai), hand baggage is a piece of unchecked baggage that is not a personal item and complies with security and safety requirements. The definition sets no dimensions.

The difference from the personal item lies in the wording. For the personal item, the text says “at no extra cost”. For hand baggage, it says “subject to the capacity of the aircraft cabin” instead – and nothing about the charge.

The recitals point the same way. Recital 43 says airlines and intermediaries should remain able to offer fares that do not include hand baggage, and that the aim of the display rule is to let passengers compare fares that include hand baggage more easily – it explains hand baggage in brackets as “a trolley bag”. According to recital 45, airlines should – without prejudice to the freedom of pricing principle – define a reasonable policy on how large hand baggage may be. According to the same recital, whether uniform minimum rules for hand baggage are feasible is to be assessed in the review of Regulation 1008/2008.

Hand baggage is not a new question for the Court of Justice. Case C-487/12 (Vueling, 18 September 2014) concerned checked baggage, but in its reasoning the Court added, in order to give a complete response, that baggage that is not checked in, namely hand baggage, must in principle be considered a necessary aspect of the carriage of passengers, so its carriage cannot be made subject to a price supplement – on condition that it meets reasonable requirements in terms of weight and dimensions and complies with applicable security requirements (paragraph 40). That statement is not part of the operative part of the judgment, which interprets the pricing freedom rule in Article 22(1) of Regulation 1008/2008 for checked baggage. The Court did not say which dimensions are reasonable.

The European Commission reads the judgment as meaning that hand baggage exceeding such reasonable requirements is subject to airlines' pricing freedom. In October 2025 it opened an infringement procedure against Spain, whose law does not allow airlines to charge extra for hand baggage and which has issued penalty decisions to five airlines for charging separately for additional cabin baggage. Where the line for reasonable requirements lies – and so whether an airline may charge for a larger cabin bag today – has therefore not been decided by the Court of Justice.

Recital 42 of the new regulation uses the same expression as the judgment – “a necessary aspect of the carriage of passengers” – for the personal item. That suggests that the idea that what is necessary for the journey should be included in the fare is not new. What is new in Article 11a is an express prohibition in the legislation, with a stated size: an airline may not charge extra for a personal item no larger than 40 × 30 × 15 cm, or one that fits under the seat in front.

The regulation says nothing about how the judgment applies to a larger cabin bag, today or from 23 October 2027.

The same regulation also amends Regulation 2027/97 on air carrier liability, inserting, from the same date, a new Article 6b. When selling flights to, from or within the EU, airlines and intermediaries must clearly state the maximum cabin and hold baggage allowance in size and weight for the fare, any restrictions on the number of items, any potential additional charges for checked and unchecked baggage, and the specific reasons that may prevent unchecked baggage from being carried in the cabin.

The fact that the regulation anticipates possible additional charges for unchecked baggage is a further indication that it does not make a cabin bag free.