Airline hand luggage

Airline cabin bag sizes compared

Every airline here lets you bring one small bag that fits under the seat, but its size ranges from 40 × 30 × 15 cm (British Airways) to 45 × 36 × 20 cm (easyJet). A larger overhead-locker bag is included as standard on Jet2.com, British Airways and TUI Airways; on Ryanair, easyJet and Wizz Air it depends on what you book.

Cabin bag sizes by airline

Airline Under-seat bag Overhead cabin bag Overhead bag included?
Ryanair 40 × 30 × 20 cm
No numeric limit stated by Ryanair 		55 × 40 × 20 cm
10 kg 		Only with: Priority & 2 Cabin Bags
easyJet 45 × 36 × 20 cm
15 kg 		56 × 45 × 25 cm
15 kg 		Only with: Large cabin bag added to booking, Inclusive Plus fare, easyJet Plus member
Jet2.com 40 × 30 × 20 cm
No numeric limit stated by Jet2.com 		56 × 45 × 25 cm
10 kg 		Included with every fare
British Airways 40 × 30 × 15 cm
No numeric limit stated by British Airways 		56 × 45 × 25 cm
No numeric limit stated by British Airways 		Included with every fare
Wizz Air 40 × 30 × 20 cm
10 kg 		55 × 40 × 23 cm
10 kg 		Only with: WIZZ Priority
TUI Airways 40 × 30 × 20 cm
No numeric limit stated by TUI Airways 		55 × 40 × 20 cm
10 kg 		Included with every fare

Got a bag in mind?

Enter its measurements and weight and we’ll check it against your airline’s allowance — and tell you which side is too big.

Check my bag

Personal item vs cabin bag

Airlines use different names — “small personal bag”, “under-seat bag”, “free carry-on”, “handbag” — but they all mean the bag that has to fit under the seat in front of you. The second, larger bag goes in the overhead locker. On low-cost fares that second bag is usually what you pay extra for, so it’s worth knowing exactly which one your bag counts as.

Under-seat bags, largest to smallest

Ranked by the volume of the maximum size each airline allows.

  1. easyJet: 45 × 36 × 20 cm (about 32 litres)
  2. Ryanair: 40 × 30 × 20 cm (about 24 litres)
  3. Jet2.com: 40 × 30 × 20 cm (about 24 litres)
  4. Wizz Air: 40 × 30 × 20 cm (about 24 litres)
  5. TUI Airways: 40 × 30 × 20 cm (about 24 litres)
  6. British Airways: 40 × 30 × 15 cm (about 18 litres)

The depth is where most bags fail. A soft backpack that measures 20 cm empty can easily bulge past that once it’s packed — measure it full.

One bag for every airline?

If you fly with several of these airlines, a bag no bigger than 40 × 30 × 15 cm is within every under-seat size above, and a bag no bigger than 55 × 40 × 20 cm is within every overhead cabin bag size. Two things can still catch you out: weight limits differ, and airlines don’t all measure the same way. easyJet and Jet2.com include wheels and handles in the size; Wizz Air's size doesn't include handles or wheels, but wheels must add no more than 5 cm. The others don’t say either way. Each airline page spells this out.

Shopping for one? Search Amazon UK for an under-seat bag within 40 × 30 × 15 cm (paid link) or a cabin bag within 55 × 40 × 20 cm (paid link), then check the listed size yourself.

Weight limits: only where the airline states one

Not every airline publishes a weight for every bag, and we don’t fill the gap with a guess. Of the six, easyJet and Wizz Air state a numeric weight for the under-seat bag. British Airways states no numeric limit for either bag: BA’s current page doesn’t state a weight limit as a number — you must be able to lift your cabin bag into the overhead locker without help.

Your fare can change your allowance

If a bag doesn’t meet your allowance at the gate, the airline may refuse it in the cabin or charge to put it in the hold. We don’t list those charges because they change often — the official links on each airline page show the current amounts.

How we check these sizes

Each size and weight comes from the airline’s own baggage page, which we link on every airline page with the date we last checked it. If the airline doesn’t state something — a weight, or whether wheels count — we say so rather than borrowing a figure from elsewhere. Read our source policy.

Airline guides