Europe’s largest airline by passenger numbers, Ryanair, has announced it is set to reduce its baggage check-in and drop-off window for flights from 10 November 2026, making passengers with bags arrive at airports earlier by cutting the time passengers can use those services by 20 minutes.
Despite closing baggage check-in and drop off 60 minutes before flights, instead of 40 minutes as previously, the budget Irish carrier is framing the move as an increase and an “improvement”, which will “provide more time for passengers to get through airport security and passport queues.” However, the change is interpreted; the carrier appears to be banking on the fact that it will irritate only a small percentage of its customers, since 80% of them do not check any bags at all.
The announcement comes amid questions over excessive airport wait times that have occurred during the rollout of the European Union’s new Entry Exit System (EES). Third-country nationals, including Brits since Brexit, must now register biometric, passport, and trip information when crossing borders into all EU member states, except Ireland and Cyprus, plus Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, and Switzerland.
That process is taking time at travel hubs and causing chaos that has travel stakeholders concerned enough to complain to EU commissioners to demand flexibility. Humberto Delgado Airport in Lisbon has had to call in the national guard, the Port of Dover has instituted separate EES lanes, and Greece has opted out of EES altogether for the summer 2026 season. One incident saw low-cost rival EasyJet leave 122 passengers behind at Milan after they failed to get through the airport on time.
Ryanair clearly wants to avoid this sort of publicity. The strategy is essentially being implemented to make passengers get to the airport earlier, meaning they should have more time to navigate airport security processes. The change “will reduce the very small number of passengers who currently miss their flight departure as they are getting stuck in these airport queues,” a Ryanair statement said.
To make up for closing baggage check-in and drop-off earlier, Ryanair has confirmed it will open its desks earlier, too. In addition, the carrier is “installing self-service kiosks at over 95% of Ryanair airports before October. This means a quicker bag-drop service, less queuing at airport desks, and an even more punctual service for the 20% of our customers who still wish to check-in a bag, while the 80% (who don’t check-in a bag) will be unaffected by this small 20-minute change.”
