The United States, as we know, is a patchwork quilt of laws. What may be the rule in one state may be very different in another state, and it’s possible that neither “But it’s legal where I live” nor “I didn’t know it was illegal here” will help you if you get caught doing something that shouldn’t be done where you are.
Over in Europe, the European Union, which was established in the late 20th century, is still fine tuning itself after originally being 20-something different countries. As an example, you may be old enough to remember when each country in the EU had its own currency. France’s French francs, Germany’s Deutsche Marks, Italy’s lira, etc. But some years after the EU came into being, they all settled on one form of money – the Euro. So the fact that the EU isn’t consolidating its rules for travel until now isn’t too far-fetched.
Anyway, in September of last year, the EU officially consolidated the maximum measurements allowed for traveling within the EU with major European airlines. They also updated the “100ml” rule (that’s the equivalent of our 3-1-1 bag), due to what appeared to be travelers’ ongoing confusion.
Maximum dimensions for personal bags
Personal bags can’t be larger than 40 x 30 x 15 centimeters.
That converts to 15.75 x 11.8 x 5.9 inches.
This includes handles, potentially wheels, etc.
Maximum dimensions for carry-on bag
Carry-on bags can’t be larger than 55 x 40 x 20 centimeters.
That converts to 21.65 x 15.75 x 7.87 inches.
This includes handles and wheels.
Maximum weight for non-checked bags
The overhead compartments on European planes tend to be smaller than those in the U.S., and the EU has concerns of them falling if they hold too much weight. So besides size limitations, they also have weight limitations.
The weight of your carry-on bag plus your personal item is not allowed to exceed 10 kilograms.
That converts to 22.05 pounds.
Updated liquid rules
If you’ve been reading travel news over the past year or so, you know that some airports in the EU had new CT technology that allowed passengers to bring liquids of any size in their carry-ons, and they didn’t have to be all together in one bag. Not all airports in the EU had already switched to the “looser” rules about liquids (roughly 350 of the new scanners were in use across 13 EU countries such as Germany, Ireland, Italy, Lithuania, Malta, the Netherlands, and Sweden), but as of September 1, those which had were now back to the “old” rule of 100ml containers in a 1-liter bag.
This newest rule is the same as the old one: passengers planning to fly from an EU airport will be restricted to carry-on limits of 100ml containers of liquids, gels, and creams, and only as many as can fit into a 20cm x 20cm bag. These liquids are then placed into a tray, separate from your luggage and other items.
Why all the changes?
Back in September, the liquid rule was said to be temporary until a “tech issue” with the equipment could be fixed.
From CNT:
A report by the European Commission, which was sent to the European Civil Aviation Conference (ECAC) last May, outlined there was a “technical issue” with the scanners that prevented the software from reliably detecting harmful substances with content over more than 330ml.
I’d bet dollars to doughnuts that the inconsistency was an issue, as well. Unless all airports had the new CT scanners, it would be more difficult for PAX to keep track of “the rule” for the airport in question (that’s what TSA suggested as well, when asked why we don’t have “looser” rules for liquids for the airports that have CT scanners. It’s too confusing.).
Having set measurements for luggage also makes for consistency (*cough* a very German thing *cough* I keed! I keed!) across the board for the EU countries. So that might be involved, as well.
How does this affect me?
If you’re just flying between the U.S. and an EU country, especially on a U.S. carrier, it shouldn’t. But once you’re in the EU and plan to fly from one EU country to another, that’s when you’ll need to make sure your bags are small enough and don’t weigh too much.
Sure am glad I still have my lightest carry-on in the world.
Want to comment on this post? Great! Read this first to help ensure it gets approved.
Want to sponsor a post, write something for Your Mileage May Vary, or put ads on our site? Click here for more info.
Like this post? Please share it! We have plenty more just like it and would love it if you decided to hang around and sign up to get emailed notifications of when we post.
Whether you’ve read our articles before or this is the first time you’re stopping by, we’re really glad you’re here and hope you come back to visit again!
This post first appeared on Your Mileage May Vary
