Wizz Air charges passengers extra to hold on to hand luggage

The new policy has been rolled out this week

Wizz Air Airbus A320-232 (istock)

Not all hand luggage will be allowed in the cabin on Wizz Air flights after the airline rolled out a new hand baggage policy this week.

Instead, passengers who haven’t paid extra for priority boarding will have their luggage placed in the hold.

The airline has cited limited onboard space as the reason behind its latest policy change, as well as hoping it will speed up boarding.

While every basic ticket includes free hand luggage, bags that cannot be placed under the seat (because they exceed 40x30x18cm) are no longer allowed to be stowed in the overhead lockers.

As of this week, only passengers who have purchased Wizz Priority will be able to bring larger hand luggage items into the cabin.

Priority boarding costs an extra €5-€12 or €25 if purchased at the airport.

“The aim of this measure is to minimise hand luggage related delays and increase customer satisfaction,” Wizz Air said in a statement.

“The company’s strategy is to ensure we keep the lowest fares possible for customers while providing them with options to customize their travel and pay only for the services required. This allows maximum flexibility for our passengers while offering them genuinely low ticket pricing.”

Earlier this year, Ryanair made a similar change to its hand baggage policy. Like Wizz, passengers must now have their larger item of hand luggage placed in the hold unless they've paid for priority boarding.

Kenny Jacobs, Ryanair’s Chief Marketing Officer, said of its introduction: “We hope that all our customers will enjoy these new bag rules which are centred around lower checked bag fees and bigger bag allowances.”