Taking two pieces of cabin baggage on board a flight is “a fundamental right to avoid unjustified extra costs”, according to the European Parliament. The legislators believe some budget airlines are penalising passengers by permitting only one “small personal item” with the cheapest tickets. MEPs want to force carriers to allow two pieces of hand luggage.
The move is the latest strike in the “cabin baggage wars” that broke out two decades ago. Up to and including 2005, almost every airline allowed around 20kg of checked luggage as part of the ticket price. So there was no big squeeze: passengers naturally packed voluminous and heavy stuff in their free checked allowance.
