More hand baggage among raft of changes for airlines

Handbags and airport shopping will be allowed on all flights free of charge from next year and compensation for cancelled and delayed flights will kick in after just three hours.

Under new rules voted on by members of the European Parliament, airline practices such as forcing you to buy a new return ticket if you do not take the first leg of the journey will also be banned.

Only 2% of people who could have claimed compensation for delayed and cancelled flights managed to do so — proof that the current rules are failing passengers, according to Jim Higgins, Fine Gael MEP for Ireland North-West.