Is there a correct spelling of Girona/Gerona? Is there a correct way of spelling Alacant/Alicante? I always thought it depended on what kind of nationalist you were - i.e., Spanish or Catalan/Valencian etc.
To return to the thread. I get the impression that Ryanair has decided to get tough on hand luggage, probably primarily to increase revenue but also to avoid instances when there is absolutely no space left to stow Joe Public's bag.
For the first time I can recall, this week I saw someone at the gate for a Ryanair flight whose sole job it was to ask passengers whose bags looked too large to place it in the gauge. About time!
At the aircraft door there was at least one bag which had been tagged and was about to be taken to the hold (this was a station with airbridge loading). I did wonder if the passenger would be charged the appropriate "checked bag" fee and, if not, whether we'll simply replace one set of chancers (those who know their bags are too big but take a chance) with another (those who gamble that they might be able to avoid the "checked bag" fee but risk having a large bag taken from them at the gate).
I'm all for Ryanair and other airlines' enforcement of the rules. I do not want flying to become more akin to bus travel, where rules about consuming food and drink, playing music etc. are routinely flouted and where staff seem to have given up on enforcing them. The offloading sanction is powerful and even the brain-dead know that this means they have to behave or else. Those of us who follow these reasonable rules have nothing to fear (and could avoid having some huge "carry on" fall on our heads as passengers fail in their attempt to haul it into the overhead).
Rant over!