Ryanair Warns Against Using Black Suitcases at Airports. If you’re planning a trip abroad soon, you might want to rethink your luggage choice—especially if you own a black suitcase.
As summer approaches, many travelers are gearing up for sun-soaked holidays or city breaks. And with budget airlines like Ryanair offering cheap flights, jetting off has never been easier.
But before you dust off that suitcase that’s been sitting in storage for months, consider this: if it’s black, you might want to invest in a more colorful option.
No matter how often we fly, the wait at the baggage carousel always comes with a bit of anxiety. Will your bag show up? Will someone else accidentally take it?
Unfortunately, luggage does go missing—far more often than you might think. BBC data from 2022 revealed that 26 million pieces of luggage were delayed, lost, or damaged after flights in the UK. One of the most common reasons? Mistaken identity.
Black suitcases are particularly risky because they all look the same. Even if you’ve had yours for years, it can be nearly indistinguishable from the one next to it.
Ryanair, Europe’s largest airline, has weighed in on the issue, advising travelers to steer clear of black, navy, and grey luggage when possible.
If swapping your suitcase isn’t an option, the airline recommends a few tricks to help identify your bag:
“Make it easier to spot your checked-in luggage on the carousel, especially if your luggage is black, navy or grey,” the Dublin-based airline stated. “Add a colourful luggage tag or ribbon to the handle so that there’s no confusion on arrival.”
Frankfurt Airport boss, Stefan Schulte, echoed this advice, noting that dark-colored suitcases are particularly hard to tell apart.
However, not everyone agrees that tying a ribbon to your suitcase is the best solution.
A baggage handler at Dublin Airport, named John, previously warned that ribbons could actually cause more problems than they solve.
“Ribbons people tie onto their suitcases to help identify them can cause issues with the bag being scanned in the baggage hall,” he explained.
“If the bag can’t be scanned automatically, it can end up in manual processing, which could mean your bag doesn’t make it to the flight. Take old stickers off the bag, it can cause confusion with the scanning process.”
So, while a ribbon might seem like an easy fix, it could backfire. Maybe the best solution is to invest in a brightly colored suitcase and eliminate the problem altogether.