New baggage size rule put on hold

The European Commission yesterday decided to put on hold the introduction of rules determining the size of hand-luggage carried by European passengers on board flights.

The rule had to enter into force in all the EU member states this month. It had formed part of a package of measures to improve the efficiency of security screening at airports, in the aftermath of an alleged plot to attack civil aviation in August 2006 in the UK.

However, following a study, the Commission decided not to insist on it any longer, saying its effectiveness does not justify the additional cost and inconvenience to passengers.

In October 2006, security experts had advised the European Commission to limit the maximum permitted size of cabin baggage throughout the EU to 56cm x 45cm x 25cm. The rationale behind was that the task of airport security staff to identify prohibited articles is made more difficult by the size of the bag since larger bags generally contain more objects.

Studies concluded, however, that baggage size was far less significant than other factors affecting overall performance of security staff at airports.