Ryanair is to delay its new cabin bag policy until mid-January to give customers more time to get used to the move, it said today.

Under the new rules, announced in September, only customers who pay £5 to £6 extra for priority boarding will be allowed to take two carry-on bags on to the plane.

All other customers will only be allowed to take one smaller carry-on bag onboard, and a second, bigger bag can be placed in the hold free of charge at the boarding gate.

The change was due to be introduced on November 1 but it has now been delayed to January 15 so that it doesn't affect customers travelling over Christmas.

As part of the new policy, Ryanair has already reduced its fee for checking in bags from £35 to £25 and increased its baggage allowance from 15kg to 20kg.

Spokesman Kenny Jacobs said: "We will delay the introduction of our new cabin bag rules until 15t January 2018, to allow our customers more time to familiarise themselves with the policy changes.

"We have already introduced the first phase of the new bag policy which offers our customers lower bag fees for a 33% increase in their check-in bag allowance. This will lead to fewer customers with two carry-on bags at the boarding gates, which is causing flight delays.

"The new cabin bag policy will be implemented for all travel after 15 January 2018, and we hope our customers will enjoy the savings of our new simplified bag policy."

Courtesy of Travelmole