Ryanair is set to increase the bonuses given to staff members who issue additional charges to passengers with oversized luggage. Chief Executive Michael O'Leary announced the move after it emerged that the number of travellers stopped with oversized baggage had dropped following the introduction of incentives.
Currently, budget airline staff receive €2.50 (approximately £2.17) for every oversized bag they identify, for which passengers are charged an additional €75 (£65). The change could see workers receive a €3.50 bonus for each violation they catch, according to The Times. This bonus was already increased in November 2025 from €1.50.
“The number of outsized bags is falling from, I don’t know, 0.0001 [per cent] to 0.00001,” O’Leary said. “As the numbers fall, I think we will up the rate of commission, from €2.50 to €3.50 or so. Everybody must know, do not show up with a bag that doesn’t fit in the sizer because you will be charged.”
All Ryanair fares include one small personal bag (40 x 30 x 20 cm) that must fit under the seat. Cabin bags can be purchased and weigh up to 10kg, with dimensions of 55x40x20cm, and must fit in the overhead locker. At the time of the incentive increase last year, O'Leary noted that about 200,000 passengers per year have to pay extra to put carry-on luggage in the hold, and he expressed no sympathy for “chancers” trying to bring “rucksacks” aboard.
“We're the airline with the lowest air fares in Europe,” O'Leary added. “Those are our rules. Please comply with the rules, as 99.9% of our 200 million passengers do, and you won't have any problem.” He claimed that if people “comply with the bag rules then everyone will board faster” and there will be “fewer flight delays”.
The announcement comes after the Ryanair boss suggested that airport bars should stop serving alcohol early in the morning. He claimed his airline is being forced to divert flights almost daily because of drunken, aggressive passengers. Pubs in airports do not follow the same licensing rules as bars outside these environments, and O'Leary said that changing this would support his airline and others by helping to cut out aggressive behaviour in the skies.
