Carry-on size rules: the limits worth checking before you fly

Trahvl editorial deskUpdated September 2026Every figure read from the airlines own page on 14 September 2026
Short answer

There is no international carry-on size. In the United States the working standard is 22 x 14 x 9 inches, and each airline sets its own limit under an approved carry-on programme rather than a federal rule. In Europe the common reference sizes run from 40 x 30 x 20 cm for a free under-seat bag to 56 x 45 x 25 cm for a paid cabin bag. Check two numbers before you fly: the three dimensions, and the weight.

The single number quoted in most guides, 22 x 14 x 9 inches, is a North American convention that no European low-cost carrier uses. If you fly both, buy to the smaller box and you will never be measured at the gate.

On this page
  1. Who actually sets the limit
  2. The three numbers that matter
  3. The reference sizes
  4. Why depth fails first
  5. Weight limits
  6. Liquids
  7. The airline table
  8. Questions people ask

Who actually sets the limit

Airlines set cabin bag size, not regulators. In the United States, 14 CFR 121.589 requires each operator to run an approved carry-on baggage programme and to refuse boarding to baggage that exceeds the allowance in that programme. The regulation governs stowage and control, not a number of centimetres. That is why American Airlines publishes 22 x 14 x 9 inches, Southwest publishes 24 x 16 x 10 inches, and both are within the rule.

In Europe there is no common cabin bag size either. The regulation that does exist is about security screening, not dimensions: Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2024/2108 reimposed a 100 ml per container limit on liquid screening equipment from 1 September 2024. Container limits are regulated at EU level. Bag dimensions are commercial, and each airline publishes its own.

What this means in practiceAny page that gives you one universal carry-on size is giving you a North American convention, not a rule. The only authoritative number for your flight is on the operating airline page for the tariff you bought, and on a multi-airline itinerary the operating carrier of each leg governs that leg.

The three numbers that matter

Number What it is Where it bites
Height x width x depth The box in the gate sizer, including wheels, handles and side pockets A bag that is 3 cm too deep fails, even if its height and width are fine
Weight Some airlines publish a cabin weight limit, some do not A 44 litre bag of compressed knitwear can pass a size check and fail a scale
Piece count One cabin bag plus one personal item on most carriers, fewer on basic fares On several carriers the cheap fare includes the personal item only

The reference sizes

Nine boxes cover almost every airline in the table below. Knowing which box you are flying is more useful than memorising airline names, because the sizes cluster.

Outer box volumes are calculated from the published dimensions and show the size of the space the sizer accepts. Usable packing space inside a bag is smaller.

Box Outer box volume Airlines using this size
40 x 30 x 20 cm 24.0 L Wizz Air free under-seat bag
45 x 36 x 20 cm 32.4 L easyJet free small cabin bag
55 x 40 x 20 cm 44.0 L Ryanair cabin bag with Priority
22 x 14 x 9 in 45.4 L American Airlines, Delta, United (same box, listed 9 x 14 x 22), JetBlue, Alaska Airlines
55 x 38 x 22 cm 46.0 L Emirates
56 x 36 x 23 cm 46.4 L Qantas domestic, Cathay Pacific
55 x 35 x 25 cm 48.1 L KLM, Air France
55 x 40 x 23 cm 50.6 L Lufthansa, Air Canada, Turkish Airlines, Norwegian
56 x 45 x 25 cm 63.0 L British Airways, easyJet large cabin bag
44 Lthe smallest paid cabin box, Ryanair
63 Lthe largest, British Airways and easyJet large
19 Lthe gap between them, more than the free Wizz Air bag

That 19 litre gap is the practical takeaway. A bag built to 56 x 45 x 25 cm is comfortable on British Airways and will be turned away by Ryanair, easyJet on the small bag and Wizz Air if it is filled to shape. A bag built to 55 x 40 x 20 cm fits every box in the table, including the North American one, with volume to spare.

Why depth fails first

The depth of a soft bag is the dimension you control least. Height and width are set by the bag pattern. Depth is set by how much you put in it, and a stuffed soft bag bulges at the front panel where there is nothing holding it flat.

Three carriers publish 20 cm as the depth limit: Ryanair, easyJet on the small free bag, and Wizz Air on the free bag. A bag at 23 cm deep passes Lufthansa, KLM and Air Canada, and fails a Ryanair sizer. If you own one cabin bag and want it to work everywhere, 20 cm is the number to measure before you buy anything else.

The sizer measures the bag you show up withGate sizers measure the packed bag, not the product page. A soft bag that measures 20 cm empty will measure 24 cm when you compress knitwear into it, because compression does not create space, it redirects the load outward. Measure your packed bag with a tape measure before the first flight of any trip that matters, and repack rather than risk a gate fee.

Weight limits

Cabin weight limits are where the table is at its most uneven, and where most guides quietly guess. Where an airline publishes a limit, it is in the table below. Where it does not, the cell is blank.

Read from each airline page on 14 September 2026. A blank or "not published" cell means the airline does not state a cabin weight limit on the page we read, not that no limit exists in practice.

Weight limit Airlines that publish it
7 kg Emirates, Qatar Airways, Singapore Airlines, Cathay Pacific Economy
8 kg Lufthansa, Turkish Airlines
10 kg Aer Lingus, Iberia Economy, Ryanair cabin bag, Wizz Air, Norwegian LowFare+, Qantas per bag
12 kg KLM and Air France, combined with the small bag
14 kg Iberia Business, Qantas domestic combined total
15 kg Norwegian Flex, easyJet small under-seat bag
18 kg KLM and Air France Business, combined with the small bag
Not published American Airlines, Delta, United, Southwest, Alaska Airlines, British Airways
None JetBlue states no weight restriction; Air Canada states no weight limit but requires you to lift the bag unaided

The range between 7 kg and 12 kg is about five litres of packed clothing, and a cabin bag weighs 1.2 to 2.5 kg empty. On Emirates or Qatar the 7 kg limit is the binding constraint and the depth limit barely matters. On KLM or Air France the weight limit is generous, and the 25 cm depth and 35 cm width are what you have to respect.

Liquids

Liquid rules are regulated, unlike bag size, and they are the most common reason a cabin bag is opened. The TSA 3-1-1 rule applies in the United States: containers of 3.4 oz or 100 ml or less, inside one clear quart-sized resealable bag. In the European Union, Regulation (EU) 2024/2108 reimposed a 100 ml per container limit on the standard C3 screening equipment approved before 1 August 2024. In the United Kingdom it depends on the departure airport: GOV.UK states that most airports cap containers at 100 ml in one transparent litre bag, while some allow up to two litres with no separate bag.

The rule that catches people is the container, not the content. A 250 ml bottle that is half empty is still a 250 ml container and will be taken at the checkpoint. Exemptions exist for prescribed medicine, baby food and special dietary requirements, and you may need proof.

The airline table

Eight groups cover most of what you will fly. Every figure was read from the airline own baggage page on 14 September 2026. The full 23-carrier version, filterable and with the same source links, is on the carry-on size and weight checker.

Airline Cabin bag limit Weight limit Source read 14 September 2026
Ryanair 55 x 40 x 20 cm 10 kg help.ryanair.com
easyJet 56 x 45 x 25 cm large cabin bag; 45 x 36 x 20 cm free small bag 15 kg on the small bag www.easyjet.com
Wizz Air 55 x 40 x 23 cm trolley with WIZZ Priority; 40 x 30 x 20 cm free 10 kg wizzair.com
American Airlines, Delta, JetBlue, Alaska 22 x 14 x 9 in (56 x 36 x 23 cm) Not published www.aa.com
Lufthansa, Air Canada, Turkish Airlines, Norwegian 55 x 40 x 23 cm Lufthansa and Turkish 8 kg www.lufthansa.com
KLM, Air France 55 x 35 x 25 cm 12 kg combined with the small bag klm.com
British Airways 56 x 45 x 25 cm Not published www.britishairways.com
Emirates, Qatar Airways 55 x 38 x 22 cm; 50 x 37 x 25 cm 7 kg www.emirates.com
Limits change, and the airline page governsThis table is a snapshot of one date, and two examples show why that matters. Ryanair own help centre contradicts itself: the bag policy article lists the free small bag as 40 x 30 x 20 cm while an older Priority article still shows 40 x 20 x 25 cm. Air Canada changed its Economy Basic allowance for tickets purchased on or after 3 January 2025 so that some itineraries include a personal item only. Before you fly, open the operating airline own baggage page and read it. That page, not this one, is what the gate agent will apply.

Questions people ask

What is the standard carry-on size?
In North America, 22 x 14 x 9 inches, which is 56 x 36 x 23 cm and a 45.4 litre box. No European low-cost carrier uses it. If you want one bag that works on every airline in our table, buy to 55 x 40 x 20 cm, a 44 litre box that sits inside every published limit we checked.
Is a 20 inch suitcase a carry-on?
Usually yes, but the height is rarely the problem. A 20 inch case is typically 55 cm tall, inside every limit in the table. Depth is what fails: 23 cm deep passes Lufthansa, KLM and Air Canada, and fails Ryanair, easyJet small bag and Wizz Air free bag, all of which cap depth at 20 cm. Measure the depth, not the diagonal.
Do carry-on size limits include wheels and handles?
On most airlines, yes, and their pages say so explicitly. American Airlines, Delta, British Airways, Cathay Pacific, Southwest, Air Canada and Aer Lingus all state that wheels and handles count toward the dimensions. Wizz Air excludes them but states that wheels must not add more than 5 cm.
What happens if my carry-on is too big?
It gets gate checked, and on several carriers that costs money. Ryanair states that oversized cabin baggage will be refused at the gate or placed in the hold for a fee, and easyJet states that adding a large cabin bag at the gate costs significantly more than adding it online. Measuring at home is the cheapest outcome.

Sources

  1. 14 CFR 121.589, Carry-on baggage. Electronic Code of Federal Regulations — www.ecfr.gov/current/title-14/chapter-I/subchapter-G/part-121/subpart-T/section-121.589
  2. Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2024/2108 of 29 July 2024 on liquid screening equipment, applied from 1 September 2024 — eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/reg_impl/2024/2108/oj/eng
  3. GOV.UK. Hand luggage restrictions at UK airports: liquids — www.gov.uk/hand-luggage-restrictions/liquids
  4. Transportation Security Administration. Liquids, aerosols and gels rule (3-1-1) — www.tsa.gov/travel/security-screening/liquids-aerosols-gels-rule
  5. Ryanair. Ryanair bag policy, help centre — help.ryanair.com/hc/en-us/articles/12888036565521-Ryanair-s-Bag-Policy
  6. Ryanair. Priority and 2 Cabin Bags, help centre (still states the older small bag size) — help.ryanair.com/hc/en-ee/articles/360017825358-Priority-2-Cabin-Bags

Carry-on bags that pass every box

Measured dimensions, including the depth, printed on the product page.

See cabin bags

Which one to buy

Every option this store stocks, with price, type and who it suits, is compared on one page.

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