Kirsty and Marc McVeigh, both 38, were flying to Milan with their family when they were stopped as they were boarding their plane and told their Nike bag was too large
A family has been left “fuming” after they were fined £60 for breaking Ryanair’s baggage rules, as they insist their bag was the correct size.
Kirsty and Marc McVeigh, both 38, were flying to Milan with their three children, bringing with them a blue Nike gym bag. The family went through check in and security checks without incident.
But as Marc was boarding the plane he was stopped as air crew wanted to check the size of his bag – which was found to have breached the rules. As a result, the family was fined £60 – more than their £47 return flight.
Kirsty told Manchester Evening News: “I’m fuming, honestly. Marc has had the bag for 10 or 11 years and he has taken it on every trip, no issues, no problems, with any airline.
“He’s used it on Ryanair before without a problem. Me and the kids were already on the plane and I think Marc was the last to board. They asked him to test it and he put it in the sizer. It fit in but they said they don’t accept the ‘style’ of bag any more. The signs say if it fits you can bring it on board.
“It’s just ridiculous it cost more than the return flight. I don’t know how they can justify it. It’s complete madness.”
The family claim they have flown with the bag several times before without having any problems. They are now appealing against the charge.
A Ryanair spokesperson said: “This passenger booked a basic fare for this flight from Manchester to Milan, which allowed him to carry one small personal bag onboard. As this passenger’s bag exceeded the permitted size of a small personal bag (as clearly shown in the photos you’ve provided), he was correctly required to pay a standard gate baggage fee of £60 by the gate agent at Manchester Airport to carry his cabin bag onboard the aircraft.”
This week another Ryanair passenger was fined when his suitcase was said to be too big. Austin Price was flying from Bristol Airport to Krakow, Poland, when he was stopped in the queue as staff asked him to put his suitcase in the measuring stand. The 28-year-old, from Plymouth, Devon, claims his luggage did fit in the gap but the wheels did not as they are ‘wonky’ and ‘a bit stiff’.
However, the Ryanair employee told him he would have to pay because it was too big. The fee was on top of the priority boarding payment he’d made to take the 10kg bag on in the first place.
