Ryanair bag drop will close 60 minutes before departure from 10 November

What changes on 10 November

Ryanair will close its bag drop desks at all airports it serves 60 minutes before scheduled departure, up from the current 40 minutes. The change starts on Tuesday, 10 November, and the airline first announced it in April. It targets the roughly 20% of passengers who check a bag into the hold, and Ryanair says the extra 20 minutes will give them more time to clear security and passport control and reach the gate before boarding begins. The airline also expects the small number of passengers who miss flights because of checkpoint delays to shrink further.

Dara Brady of Ryanair said the company sees the change as modest for the travellers it affects:

“This small change will give the 20 per cent of Ryanair passengers who check in a bag, more time to clear airport security and passport control queues.”

Current cut-off40

From 10 November60

Current cut-off

40 minutes

From 10 November

60 minutes

Data from the article text

Who is affected

The remaining 80% of passengers, who travel without checked luggage, will see no change according to Ryanair. They will keep checking in online before leaving home, then go straight through security to the gate. Passengers who check a bag but arrive after the new cut-off will not be able to hand it over. Fanpage reports that Ryanair treats such a late arrival as the passenger's own error and offers no refund. The same outlet says those passengers would have to choose between missing the flight and boarding with carry-on luggage only. Ryanair also says it is adding self-service bag tag terminals, which will close automatically at the same 60-minute point.

Gdansk Lech Walesa airport has told travellers to plan for the new deadline. Spider's Web reports that its warning covers every airport Ryanair serves, not only Gdansk, and advises passengers to arrive early enough to drop their bags and reach the gate before the desks close.

Fares and fuel costs

Ryanair chief executive Michael O'Leary told a news conference in Brussels in October that travellers across Europe will face the biggest airfare increase in history in 2027. According to the Independent, he linked the rise to fewer seats after bankruptcies and takeovers among airlines, and to unhedged fuel positions that could push fares up by as much as 20%. The same report ties the jet fuel price rise to the effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz during the Iran war. Tgcom quotes O'Leary expecting Ryanair traffic to grow 3% to 214 million passengers in the 2026-2027 financial year. He also expects European capacity to stay limited into the early part of the next decade because of delays at the two main aircraft makers and the engine maker Pratt and Whitney.

What passengers face next

The new bag drop deadline applies from 10 November, so any passenger with a checked bag on a Ryanair flight will need to plan arrival time around the 60-minute cut-off. Fanpage reports that the rule also covers the company's Italian airports. Passengers who check in online and travel with carry-on only are not affected by the change. The airport warnings and the company's own notice point to the same practical step: arriving earlier than before at any airport on the Ryanair network.