Carry-on size statistics: 19 airlines, 11 different limits

The most common carry-on size limit

22 x 14 x 9 inches is the closest thing to a standard, and it is not very close: 7 of 19 airlines use it, and every one of them is a US carrier. The other 12 airlines publish 10 further size limits between them. International carriers in particular almost never match the US box: they tend to allow a wider, shallower bag, so a suitcase built to the US limit can fail a European sizer on depth while leaving width unused.

Dimensions as published by each airline, longest side first. On phones, open the airline directory for the per-airline list.

Strictest to most generous, by allowed volume

Multiplying out each airline's three dimensions puts every limit on one scale. Ryanair sits at the bottom with about 44.0 liters of allowed bag; Sun Country Airlines tops the table at about 69.2 liters, 57 percent more. Volume is not the whole story, though: Qatar Airways allows the shortest bag (19.69 in on the longest side) yet permits more depth than most US carriers, which is exactly why no single airline can be called the strictest on every axis.

The full table: every limit we track

All figures as published by each airline; most include wheels and handles. Click a column heading to sort. The Verified column is the date we last checked that airline's own baggage page; airline names link to the full rules, fit check and official sources for that carrier.

The size that fits every airline

Take the tightest published figure on each axis and you get the universal carry-on box: 19.69 x 13.8 x 7.87 inches, wheels and handles included. A bag inside it clears the sizer at all 19 airlines on this page. Notably, no single airline defines it: the 19.69 in longest side comes from Qatar Airways, the 13.8 in middle side comes from Air France, the 7.87 in shortest side comes from Ryanair.

The catch: almost nothing sold as a carry-on actually is that small. A bag exactly at the universal box also has zero margin at its strictest airline, so treat these numbers as a ceiling, not a target. In our 105-bag catalogue the only all-19 fit is Calpak Terra 26L Laptop Duffel Backpack (18 x 12 x 7.5 in), a soft duffel backpack rather than a wheeled suitcase.

How many airlines does a real carry-on actually clear?

We ran all 105 bags sold as carry-ons in our catalogue against every airline's published limit, using the same math as the fit checker. The distribution is starkly clustered, because a bag's score is set by which of a handful of size limits it happens to slip under. Only 21 of 105 clear the most common 22 x 14 x 9 in limit, and 1 of 105 clears all 19 airlines.

Personal items: the limit most airlines will not print

Only 13 of the 19 airlines publish exact personal-item dimensions; the rest (6 carriers, including some of the biggest US names) say only that the bag must fit under the seat in front of you. Where numbers exist, the most common box is 18 x 14 x 8 inches (Allegiant Air, American Airlines, Frontier Airlines). The spread is wide: from about 18.0 liters at Lufthansa to about 33.0 liters at Frontier Airlines, a bigger relative gap than the carry-on limits themselves.

Go deeper

Change log

Airlines change baggage rules quietly, so we keep the history in the open. Every verification sweep and every figure that changes in our dataset gets a dated entry here, newest first. If an entry says no changes, that is the news: the limits on this page held.

1. 2026-08-025 airlines touched

   Quarterly spot check: American Airlines, Southwest, Allegiant, Ryanair and Lufthansa re-verified against their official baggage pages. No changes found; every published limit stands as recorded.

   American AirlinesSouthwest AirlinesAllegiant AirRyanairLufthansa

2. 2026-07-092 airlines touched

   British Airways added as the 19th airline, verified from an archived capture of ba.com (the live page blocks automated access). Sun Country remains marked partial where the airline publishes no figure.

   British AirwaysSun Country Airlines

3. 2026-07-08

   Dataset launched: 18 airlines' carry-on size, personal item and weight limits verified against each airline's own baggage page. Spirit Airlines excluded because it ceased operations on 2026-05-02.