Cabin Bags 2026: Sizes, Weight by Airline and the EU Fight Over Free Carry-On

A cabin bag that was free yesterday can cost you 70 euros at the gate today – and that is exactly what the fight between the EU Parliament and the budget airlines is about. On 7 July 2026 the Parliament decided that a small cabin bag must travel free of charge. Until that takes effect, every centimeter and every kilo still counts. This article explains, as of July 2026, which sizes each airline allows, where the under-seat-bag trap hides, and what applies to power banks and liquids.

The EU decision of July 2026: free carry-on as a right

On 7 July 2026 the European Parliament set out its position on the revised air passenger rights regulation – with 646 votes in favor, 12 against and 3 abstentions. The key point for travelers: a small cabin bag should be allowed on board at no extra cost, in addition to a personal item. With this, the Parliament reacts to a model that budget airlines in particular have perfected: the bare fare looks cheap, but the trolley in the cabin is billed separately.

The context matters: this is a Parliament position, not yet law in force. It now goes into negotiation with the Council of member states, and under the current timeline the new rules would only apply from the second half of 2027. So for your trips in the summer of 2026, nothing changes yet – the fares and sizes of each airline still apply. If you book now, do not rely on »it will be free soon anyway«.

What »free« is supposed to mean exactly

The Parliament position defines the free allowance surprisingly concretely. Alongside a personal item – a handbag, laptop bag or small backpack that fits under the seat in front – an additional cabin bag with a maximum total size of 100 cm and a weight of no more than seven kilograms should be allowed. The 100 cm is the sum of length, width and height, not a single edge.

Compare that to a typical cabin trolley: a standard size of 55 × 40 × 23 cm adds up to 118 cm – that would be over the planned free limit. So the free allowance targets a more compact format, roughly on the order of 40 × 30 × 20 cm. Anyone who wants to bring the big trolley for free will still not get it in many fares even after the reform. The reform creates a minimum standard, not a free guarantee for every piece of luggage.

Typical sizes by airline in 2026

Until the reform kicks in, the airline alone decides. The network carriers are more generous here than the budget airlines. Lufthansa, KLM and Air France include a cabin bag of 55 × 40 × 23 cm with up to 8 kg plus a small bag in practically all fares. Eurowings also allows 55 × 40 × 23 cm at 8 kg, plus an accessory of 40 × 30 × 25 cm.

With the budget airlines the trolley figure is often tighter: Ryanair lists 55 × 40 × 20 cm at up to 10 kg for the larger piece, Wizz Air uses 40 × 30 × 20 cm for the free bag. Pay special attention to the depth: Ryanair's 20 cm is the most critical dimension, because many cases sold as »cabin bags« are 23 cm deep and then do not fit the sizer. All figures include wheels, handles and stuffed outer pockets – the sizer measures the outside, not the label.

Remember two numbers as a rule of thumb: 55 × 40 × 23 is the generous network-carrier size, 40 × 30 × 20 is the small format that counts as the free bag across the budget carriers. Pack to these two formats and you are on the safe side with almost every European airline – the details vary by only a few centimeters.

The budget trap: only the under-seat bag is free

The costliest misunderstanding sits in the word »carry-on«. In the cheapest fares from Ryanair and Wizz Air, the price includes only the small bag that fits under the seat in front – not the trolley for the overhead bin. Anyone who wants to bring the larger case has to add the »Priority & 2 Cabin Bags« option at Ryanair, which depending on route and demand runs roughly between 6 and 20 euros, sometimes more.

This exact practice caused trouble in Spain in 2025: the Spanish government imposed fines totaling over 150 million euros on several budget airlines, around 107 million against Ryanair alone, because charging separately for hand luggage was ruled unlawful under Spanish law. The airlines are fighting it in court. This conflict is the real trigger behind the EU decision – and the reason the free-carry-on topic is so present in 2026.

Weight, sizer and gate fees: where it gets really expensive

Airlines check far more strictly today than they used to, and often only at the gate shortly before boarding. If the case does not fit the sizer or is too heavy, it is rebooked into the hold for a fee. Such gate fees run up to 70 euros per piece in 2026 – a multiple of what the right fare would have cost in advance.

The tricky part at the gate: there is time pressure, the line is pushing, and repacking is barely possible. If you only realize there that the outer pocket is too full or the case is 1 kg over the limit, you have no negotiating position left. So the rule is: measure in advance, weigh in advance, and when in doubt book the next larger fare while it is still cheap. The extra fee at the gate is almost always the most expensive way to transport your case, and it comes on top of the general boarding stress rather than instead of it, so it hurts twice.

The 100 ml rule and the CT scanner exception

Liquids in hand luggage remain the sore point at security. The classic rule still applies in most places: individual containers of no more than 100 ml, collected in a transparent 1-liter bag. New is the exception: in 2025 the EU certified modern CT scanners that allow liquids of up to 2 liters per container – and the bag is no longer needed.

The catch is the patchy rollout. At German airports, CT scanners are only partly in use as of 2026, for example in Frankfurt, Munich Terminal 2, Berlin, Düsseldorf, Hamburg and Stuttgart; Cologne/Bonn is set to be fully upgraded by summer 2026. The problem: you cannot know in advance which lane you will get. As long as not all checkpoints are converted, the practical advice is to keep packing under the old 100 ml rule. Only that way do you avoid the 300 ml sunscreen ending up in the bin.

Power banks and batteries: what applies in 2026

Power banks and lithium batteries belong exclusively in hand luggage, never in a checked case – a battery fire cannot be controlled in the hold. Power banks up to 100 watt-hours (Wh) are allowed, which corresponds to roughly 27,000 mAh. The conversion uses the formula mAh × 3.7 V ÷ 1000 = Wh. Between 100 and 160 Wh you need the airline's prior approval; above 160 Wh it is a no. Most airlines allow a maximum of two power banks per person.

New and important: the Lufthansa Group restricted on-board use in 2026. On its flights the power bank must not be used to charge a smartphone, tablet or laptop during the flight, and it may not be charged via the seat power outlet either. You have to keep it within reach on you or under the seat, not in the overhead bin. At security, staff want to see two things: a legible capacity rating in Wh or mAh and an undamaged casing with no cracks or swelling.

Measure and weigh before departure

The cheapest insurance against gate fees is a kitchen scale and a tape measure the night before. Weigh the fully packed case, measure it including wheels and handles, and compare both against the exact limit of your booked fare – not against what you think you know. Weight in particular creeps up: charging cables, a wash bag and a second pair of shoes add up to a kilo faster than you would expect.

Frequent flyers are best off owning two cases in the standard sizes described above, so they know for every trip what fits. Also check whether your airline has a weight limit for hand luggage or only a size limit – some strictly police the kilos, others only the edge lengths. And plan plenty of time for security, because while CT lanes without the bag requirement move faster, the old lanes at peak times move all the slower.

Travel digital instead of hauling paperwork

Part of the luggage stress can simply be digitized away. Boarding pass, seat, gate changes and the current hand luggage rules are all in the airline's app – provided your phone is online at the destination airport. That is exactly where it gets expensive or impossible without EU roaming, for instance on long-haul trips outside Europe. A travel eSIM like Holafly (Ad) books a data package for the destination country before you even take off, so the digital boarding pass, a sudden gate change and the check-in app work even when there is a queue at the kiosk. Anyone who travels light and relies on their smartphone also saves paper printouts and the fumbling in already-tight hand luggage.

The side effect: if you check in digitally and have the boarding pass on your phone, you no longer need to head to a desk at the airport and can go straight to security. That reduces not only the paper clutter in your trolley but also the number of things that can go wrong at the gate.

How tools on CalcSI help

Work out the limits before you get surprised at the gate. With the unit converter you convert power bank capacity from mAh to watt-hours and check weights in pounds, in case a non-European airline limits in different units. The percentage calculator shows how much the 70-euro gate fee really raises your budget fare – often more than half the ticket price. The world clock gives you the local time at the destination airport so you read connection times and arrival correctly. And with the countdown timer you keep an eye on the time until boarding when the line at the old security lane gets long.