Ryanair is defending its second baggage allowance change in a year.
Passengers now have to pay either €8 for their bag to be put in the hold, or pay €6 for priority boarding and take their bag onboard free of charge.
The new rules were introduced yesterday.
Chief Marketing Officer at Ryanair, Kenny Jacobs, says they needed to speed up the process at boarding gates and reduce the knock-on effect of late departures.
"Our previous policy, we had about 120 wheelie bags that needed to be tagged at the gate - when people were trying to board the aircraft - and put in the hold," said Mr Jacobs.
"That was impacting our turnaround time and customers said to us that they love low fares but the second thing they love about Ryanair is that we are always on time.
"More people wanted to hear that on-time bugle.
"So we made this change to speed up customers getting through airports, getting through security and most importantly getting through the boarding gates so that the plane leaves on time."
Digital Desk
