Ryanair, crowded at the airport: suitcases to be delivered an hour before the flight

ROME – Ryanair rushes its passengers. From Tuesday 10 November 2026, travelers of the Irish company will have 20 minutes less to deliver their hold suitcase to the airport check-in.

Today the limit is 40 minutes before takeoff. From November 10, it will increase to 60 minutes. The news will affect all the airports that Ryanair serves, including the Italian ones. We will experience it, for example, in Milan Bergamo, Milan Malpensa, Rome Fiumicino, Rome Ciampino, Naples, Bologna, Venice, Treviso, Pisa, Turin, Bari, Brindisi, Palermo, Catania and Cagliari (just to name the major ones).

What changes, concretely? A passenger buys a ticket on a Ryanair flight from Bergamo to London departing at 10am. Today you have the right to hand over your hold baggage until 9.20am. From 10 November, you will be required to complete the operation by 9am, when the counters then close.

The deadline

If it arrives at 9.5 minutes, with a minimum delay, it will already be outside the maximum time even if there are still 55 minutes left before the aircraft takes off. Warning: 9am - to stick with our example - is certainly not the recommended time, but the cut-off time. We therefore suggest arriving at the counter further in advance considering the possible queues (especially in view of Christmas).

The new 40 minute limit applies to anyone with a hold suitcase, even those who have already checked in on the company's application or website.

The percentages

The new 60 minute rule will affect one in 5 passengers. The company's data says that only 20% of customers check in a bag in the hold of the plane. 80% travel without suitcases to check and are not affected by the news.

Those who only have hand luggage usually follow this path: they check in in advance on the Ryanair app or website, receive their boarding pass on their mobile phone and, in this way, avoid paying the 55 euros that the carrier claims for all check-ins at the airport. At that point, you go directly to security checks, before reaching the gate.

Why does the Irish company now set the limit within which to deliver the hold suitcase at 60 minutes? He explains that he wants to improve the lives of passengers. Depositing your baggage first will hopefully avoid queues at passport control.

The automatic stations

The decision falls while the carrier multiplies the automatic stations for baggage delivery. The terminals allow travelers to print labels and complete part of the operations autonomously, reducing waiting at traditional counters.