Flying in Europe Could Get a LOT Easier (and Cheaper!)

One of the worst things when you’re flying is realizing that you need to pay for a bag, ESPECIALLY if it’s a carry-on.

Sometimes this happens unexpectedly, or it’s something you knew about ahead of time, but it’s still a major pain. It may be more money than you were hoping to spend, especially if you chose to fly with a budget airline in hopes to save money. Over in Europe, though, it seems could change — carry-on may be made FREE for everyone!

France24 has just reported that Europe could soon ban carry-on fees for all travelers, essentially making it a fundamental human right. This isn’t new, actually, as the European Union has been in the process of declaring carry-on bags a human right for several years. The difference now is that we may actually be getting closer to a resolution.

In late January, the European Parliament adopted a position that all passengers should have the following:

one free personal item
one free carry-on up to 100 cm total (39.37 inches) and 7 kg (about 15.5 pounds)
Additional fees could apply for larger or additional cabin bags

However, the European Council had adopted a slightly different position, stating that all passengers should have a free personal item up to 40×30×15 cm or something that fits under the seat, but that airlines could charge for larger bags, and the right for airlines to gate check bags.

This split is very similar to if something is at a crossroads between the Senate and House of Representatives here in the United States. If this is to go through, this would apply at a minimum to all flights to the EU on European airlines, and all flights departing the EU. However, the European Parliament would extend this to all flights, which would include U.S. airlines flying into the E.U.

This has been an issue for a whopping 13 years, and in the recent history debating this issue, The European Council reached a political agreement on June 5th, 2025, then Parliament adopted its second-reading position on January 21st, 2026. However, the European Council failed to approve Parliament’s amendments on March 24, 2026. Now, a Conciliation Committee meeting began on Monday, April 20th, and but if there’s no agreement, the proposal will fail once again.