Flying Ryanair with a suitcase? What you need to know about the new bag drop changes

Ryanair passengers who check in a suitcase will have 20 fewer minutes to reach the airport desk from Tuesday. Anyone used to strolling up with 45 minutes to spare will now find the bag drop shut, with winter trips to and from Spain only weeks away. 

Bag drop will close 20 minutes earlier from Tuesday 

From Tuesday November 10, Ryanair passengers with a suitcase for the hold will need to hand it over 60 minutes before take-off, rather than the 40 minutes they’ve been working to until now. The new cutoff covers both the check-in desks and the bag drop, and Ryanair says it will apply at all of its airports, according to its announcement.

Flight times themselves aren’t changing, so the extra 20 minutes comes straight out of the time passengers have been used to having in the terminal. It also means the rule will already be in force for anyone flying to or from Spain over Christmas. Ryanair first announced the change in April and has reminded passengers again at the end of October. 

Only about one in five passengers is affected 

Ryanair puts the number of passengers who check in a bag at about 20 per cent. The other 80 per cent, who travel with hand luggage and check in online before reaching the airport, can still go straight through security as they do now.

Ryanair’s chief marketing officer Dara Brady said those passengers “will be unaffected by this small 20 minute change”. 

For everyone checking a bag, though, it matters more than it sounds. Families with a couple of suitcases, or anyone who has always relied on strolling up with 45 minutes to spare, will now find the desk closed.

Ryanair says the change is about security and passport queues

Ryanair says the extra time is meant to give passengers longer to get through airport security and passport control. The airline says it should reduce the very small number of travellers who currently miss their flights because they’re stuck in those queues, according to its Help Centre.

At the same time, Ryanair is rolling out more self-service bag-drop kiosks, which it said would be at more than 95 per cent of its airports by October. They work through the Ryanair app, so passengers can check in a bag and print bag tags themselves. 

Brady has promised “a quicker bag-drop service, less queuing at airport desks, and an even more punctual service”.

How to avoid reaching a closed desk

Ryanair’s announcement doesn’t say what happens to anyone who turns up after the new cutoff, so the safest assumption is that a closed bag drop means a missed flight or having to leave your suitcase behind. 

So if you’re flying with a suitcase from Tuesday November 10, plan to be at the bag drop at least 60 minutes before take-off, and allow extra time on top for queues at the desk or kiosk.