Holidaymakers will no longer automatically be able to bring one small carry-on bag (like a handbag) and one bigger bag (like a small suitcase) free of charge.

Flyers will now only be able to take one small carry-on bag onboard, unless they pay £6 for priority boarding at the time of booking (£8 when added after booking), in which case they can take a small bag and a bigger wheelie case.

However, Ryanair confirmed that it only operates a single type of aircraft in its fleet, all of which have 189 seats, but only 95 priority boarding passes are available per plane.

If customers haven’t bought priority boarding and take another case to the boarding gate for the plane, the maximum charge faced is £25/€25.

Otherwise if passengers want to bring a second wheelie bag, they can buy a 10kg check bag for £8 at the time of booking (£10 when added after booking).

The table below outlines the new baggage allowances and fees:

Customers have taken to social media to express their confusion about the new rules, which Ryanair said would “eliminate boarding/flight delays”.

However a spokesperson said: “While our new bag policy has come into effect today, we have briefed our gate agents to take a reasonable approach while customers get used to the new rules.”