Is it high time we had a standard size for hand luggage when flying?

Let’s face it – flying with hand luggage isn’t as straight forward as it could be. Sure, if you’re familiar with the airline’s hand luggage size restrictions, that goes a long way. But when those restrictions vary slightly from one airline to another – or indeed within one airline, depending on the bag type (think Lufthansa) – it isn’t always quite as trouble-free as you might like.

Get it wrong and you could face punitive costs in order to take your luggage with you. And even if you do comply with the regulations and avoid the fees, you can still face situations where your hand luggage ends up being put in the main hold (for example, if all passengers take their maximum allowance, resulting in overfilled overhead lockers). On the upside, travelling with only hand luggage can result in an altogether much more pleasant flying experience, with a simpler checking-in and no waiting around at baggage carousels at the final destination.

So the idea of a globally standard hand luggage size seems an attractive one, and is one that IATA are looking to push forward. They are recommending an optimum size for cabin luggage of 55 x 35 x 20 cm (21.5 x 13.5 x 7.5 inches) and the thinking behind this is that it should allow everyone to store their carry-on bags on board the aircraft so long as it has 120 seats or more (so it’d be good for standard Boeing 737s and Airbus A320s). One of the downsides is that this is smaller than many of the airlines already permit, albeit not my much in many cases.

Maximum free cabin luggage dimensions for standard passengers IATA recommendation 55 x 35 x 20cm BA 56 x 45 x 25cm Easyjet 56 x 45 x 25cm Ryanair 55 x 40 x 20cm Thomas Cook 55 x 40 x 20cm Virgin Atlantic 56 x 36 x 23cm Lufthansa 55 x 40 x 23cm (57 x 54 x 15cm for foldable garment bags) American Airlines 56 x 36 x 23cm United Airlines 56 x 35 x 22cm Delta Airlines 56 x 35 x 23cm Air France 55 x 35 x 25cm Emirates 55 x 38 x 20cm Wizz Air 42 x 32 x 25cm Germanwings 55 x 40 x 23cm Flybe 55 x 40 x 23cm US Federal Aviation Authority “standard” bag 55.8 x 36.8 x 22.9cm

The other drawback is that this is an entirely voluntary stipulation on the part of IATA. The airlines do not have to comply with this recommendation, and it remains to be seen whether they do.

Do you always travel with hand luggage only? Have you ever been faced with excessive hand luggage charges? Or had your hand luggage moved to the main hold? Would you be in favour of internationally standard dimensionsfor all hand luggage, even if meant fractionally smaller sizes than you are currently allowed? Please tell us your thoughts below!

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