Ryanair offers employees larger bonuses to crack down on oversized hand luggage

One of the popular budget airlines in the Netherlands, Ryanair, has announced that it will be taking a tougher approach to oversized hand luggage, offering staff larger bonuses to catch passengers who try to circumvent the rules.

Ryanair to enforce hand luggage policy more strictly

Budget airlines such as Ryanair and easyJet have become increasingly popular among people living in the Netherlands, with the number of Dutch passengers tripling in the last 20 years, according to Statistics Netherlands (CBS). However, even the more affordable option for flying is going to get more expensive; Irish airline Ryanair has announced that its employees will be stricter with passengers who attempt to board flights with hand luggage exceeding the maximum limit covered in their fare.

Currently, Ryanair employees are awarded a 1,50 euro bonus for every oversized bag they report a passenger carrying. According to Euronews, in November 2025, the airline will raise this bonus to 2,50 per oversized bag, and these bonuses will no longer be subject to a monthly limit of 80 euros.

Ryanair passengers are charged 13 euros for every kilogram that their bag is overweight. The airline justifies these fees by claiming that passengers breaking baggage rules lead to delays, which are “unfair to the 99 percent of our passengers who comply with our baggage regulations”. Other airlines, such as easyJet, have reportedly also used bonuses to incentivise staff to enforce rules, and workers at baggage handling company Swissport apparently receive 1,40 euros for every oversized bag they come across.

EU plans to ban airlines from charging hand luggage fees altogether

The news from Ryanair comes a few months after the EU’s Transport and Tourism Committee voted to amend passenger rights regulations to include a ban on airlines charging passengers for small hand luggage. Under the new rules, airline passengers travelling in the EU will have the right to carry a personal bag, such as a handbag or rucksack, and a small hand luggage bag on their flight free of charge.

Passengers’ personal bags can have maximum dimensions of 40x30x15 centimetres, while the small hand luggage bag may sport maximum dimensions of 100cm and 7 kilogrammes. Airlines will not be allowed to charge passengers any money for carrying these items.

If the committee’s plan receives further approval, transport ticket vendors and retailers will also be required to disclose the total booking cost earlier in the booking process, and the EU will introduce a bloc-wide travel compensation form, which should be processed within 14 days.