Ryanair passengers flying from Irish airports face varying chances of having their hand luggage checked.
13:35, 16 Jan 2026Updated 13:37, 16 Jan 2026
A Ryanair bag sizer(Image: Amazon)
With winter weather still gripping Ireland, many of us are already dreaming of a sunny getaway. But with the ongoing cost of living crisis, travellers are looking for clever ways to save – and packing smart is one of the easiest.
One common money saving hack is avoiding checked baggage fees by fitting everything into a single carry on. Ryanair, one of Europe’s biggest airlines, allows passengers to bring one small bag free of charge, as long as it fits under the seat in front of them. Turning up with a bag can result in additional charges of up to €75.
In 2026, the Irish airline slightly increased the allowance for this bag to 40 x 30 x 20 cm, up from 40 x 20 x 25 cm. Oversized carry ons may be asked to go into the hold for a fee or, in some cases, refused at the gate.
Last year, some Irish passengers shared reports online of being stopped for bag checks, prompting Casino.org Ireland to create a Bag Sizer Odds Index, estimating where these checks happen most often.
According to the Index, Knock Airport (Ireland West) has the highest estimated rate of bag checks, with around 96% of flights likely to see at least one traveller checked – roughly 1 in 50.
Cork follows closely at 93%, while Dublin sees checks on an estimated three quarters of flights. The figures are based on passenger reports and are indicative rather than definitive.
Here’s how Ireland’s main airports rank for the likelihood of Ryanair bag sizer stops:
Knock (Ireland West): 96.1% of flights, 1 in 50 passenger level riskCork: 93.4% of flights, 1 in 67 passenger riskDublin: 76.4% of flights, 1 in 125 passenger riskShannon: 66.2% of flights, 1 in 167 passenger riskKerry: 38.2% of flights, 1 in 333 passenger risk – the ‘safest bet’ in Ireland
Ryanair previously confirmed it pays staff €2.50 for every oversized carry on they catch. When contacted, a spokesperson said: “We only check bags we suspect are oversized, which is a tiny minority (less than 0.1%) of passengers. We are determined to eliminate the scourge of oversized bags which delay boarding and are clearly unfair on the over 99% of our passengers who comply with our baggage rules.
“Our bag policy is simple and has not changed for many years; if it fits in our bag sizer (which is bigger than our agreed dimensions) it gets on free of charge. If it doesn’t fit in our bag sizer, it will get charged for.”
A Ryanair bag sizer(Image: NurPhoto, NurPhoto via Getty Images)
Despite this, the Bag Sizer Odds Index highlights that the likelihood of being stopped can vary depending on the airport.
The analysis focused on Ryanair passengers at Dublin, Cork, Shannon, Knock and Kerry airports primarily between January and August 2025. The team scraped Google Reviews and TripAdvisor for passenger complaints mentioning bag checks, extra charges and carry on issues. They also monitored public posts on TikTok, X and Facebook referencing bag sizer checks, prioritising content with more than 50,000 views.
Passenger volumes were estimated using 2024 data from the Irish Aviation Authority and CSO. These complaint rates were then converted into passenger level odds and per flight impact to indicate the likelihood of at least one bag check occurring on a flight.
While the numbers provide a useful snapshot, Casino.org Ireland notes the figures are conservative. Many passengers do not post publicly, and enforcement may vary, so actual bag checks may differ from the analysis.
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