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

What changes on 10 November

From Tuesday, 10 November, Ryanair will close its airport bag drop desks 60 minutes before scheduled departure, up from the current 40 minutes. The carrier first announced the change in April 2026 and says it will apply at all Ryanair airports, including Italian ones such as Milan Bergamo, Milan Malpensa, Rome Fiumicino and Naples. Passengers who checked in online will still need to hand over their hold luggage before the cutoff. Using a 10:00 flight from Bergamo to London as an example, the current cutoff is 09:20, and from 10 November it would be 09:00. Marketing chief Dara Brady said in a statement:

“From Tuesday, 10 November, bag drop services at all Ryanair airports will close 60 minutes before scheduled departure, instead of the current 40 minutes.”

Who is affected

The change touches roughly one passenger in five. Ryanair says only 20% of its customers check a bag in the hold, while the remaining 80% travel without checked luggage and are not affected. Those passengers check in online on the website or app, receive their boarding pass on a phone and go straight to security. Skipping airport check-in also avoids the 55 euros the carrier charges for check-in at the airport. The carrier advises arriving early, especially before Christmas, when queues may be longer.

Check a bag in the hold20%

No checked bag80%

Check a bag in the hold

20 %

No checked bag

80 %

Data from the article text

Why Ryanair is making the change

Ryanair says the shift gives passengers who check bags more time to clear security and passport control and reach the gate before boarding begins. The company says it is trying to cut the number of passengers who miss flights because of delays in airport queues. Brady pointed to busy travel periods, when queues can be longer, as the moments when the extra margin matters most. The change was first flagged in April, so passengers have had since then to prepare. Ryanair is presenting it as a small adjustment rather than a new fee.

Kiosks and boarding passes

Ryanair also plans to install self-service bag drop kiosks linked to its app, which would let passengers register their bags and print the luggage tags. The kiosks are meant to automate steps now handled at the desks, bringing the airline closer to rivals that already use similar systems. Since November 2025 the airline has accepted only boarding passes generated during online check-in, on its website or in the app, and paper passes have been phased out. That makes a phone the core travel document for anyone flying with Ryanair.

Airfare outlook

Separately, Ryanair chief executive Michael O'Leary told a news conference in Brussels in October 2026 that travellers across Europe would face the biggest increase in airfares in history in 2027. He forecast fewer seats as airline bankruptcies and takeovers reduce capacity, and said fares could rise by as much as 20%. The forecast is tied to airlines whose fuel costs are unhedged, which leaves them exposed to jet fuel prices. Jet fuel has risen sharply, mainly because of the effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz during the Iran war.