Irish airline Ryanair has plans to bring an end to traditional passenger luggage check-in procedures at airports in 2010, it has emerged. It will, however, still permit a certain amount of hand luggage on board.

Ryanair's move is to do with bringing down airport costs associated with luggage handling, and could turn into a model adopted by many other carriers.

Ryanair Hand Luggage

Ryanair's plan involves providing people flying it with an "unlimited" hand luggage capacity, so long as the bags involved meet size criteria, according to comments made by Michael O'Leary - Ryanair's CEO. As a result of the Ryanair hand luggage emphasis, the firm expects to be able to save 20 million Euros per annum. Aircraft cargo holds will still be able to be used, but only after overhead locker facilities reach capacity.

"We're going to move away from check-in luggage to more carry-on luggage", O'Leary told the media. "This isn't the end of civilization as we know it, it only sounds revolutionary. I can assure you it's not."

Ryanair Check-In Desks

In terms of the amount of passengers carried, Ryanair is presently Europe's largest short-haul carrier. With effect from the 1st of October, there will be no more Ryanair check-in desks of any kind, and travellers will instead be encouraged to confirm their details online.

From that date onwards, passengers will be responsible for getting their own luggage onto the aircraft to be flown on.

Ryanair has already made ripples within the travel industry. It recently upped its check-in luggage charges as a way of trying to shift travellers' preferences more towards hand luggage. In 2007, 80 per cent of Ryanair passengers were still checking luggage in. Now, a mere 30 per cent do.

Amidst the general downturn in the airline industry linked to the global credit crisis, Ryanair's European growth continues apace. During the last financial year, it flew a total of 58 million passengers - a figure that it aims to swell by nine million during the current year.

However -according to O'Leary - it will also take steps to limit UK growth - in part as a way of campaigning against a new wave of passenger taxes. Consequently, the number of passengers flying with Ryanair from UK hubs is expected to drop two million this year.