RYANAIR HAS EMAILED its millions of travellers advising them of changes to its existing check-in policy.

For all flights from 13 June, free online check-in will be available from 48 hours to 2 hours before departure. Passengers previously had four days to do so.

If you decide to choose what seat you want (which usually costs around €4 per journey) – then you will be able to check-in up to two months in advance.

Emails sent to passengers this morning included terms and conditions which allow customers to cancel flights and receive a full refund if they do not wish to agree to the new policy.

The notice reads: “Customers who choose not to reserve their preferred seat, can check in online or on the mobile app free of charge from 48 hours to 2 hours pre-departure and will be randomly allocated a seat.

“All Ryanair customers may buy a reserved seat online, both on the Ryanair.com website and mobile app from the time of booking up to 2 hours pre-departure and these customers can check-in online anytime they so wish between 60 days to 2 hours before the scheduled departure time of their flight.

“Please note – any affected customers flying on or after 13 June who do not wish to accept this check-in policy change have the right to cancel and request a full refund within 5 days of this 14 May notification after which the change will be regarded as implicitly accepted.”

A statement from Ryanair added: “Online check-in (for those customers who don’t choose reserved seats) will be available from 48 hours to 2 hours pre-departure for all flights from Wednesday  13 June. This is more than double the 24 hour check-in period operated by British Airways, Lufthansa, Norwegian and Iberia. This will give reserve seat customers more time to select their preferred seats prior to departure.”

Earlier this year, the Irish budget airline introduced new rules which meant passengers could not take a large cabin bag on board unless they bought priority boarding.

Up until January of this year, Ryanair allowed passengers to carry one cabin bag along with an additional small bag, such as a backpack or shopping bag for free.

However, the airline axed the scheme as “too many customers are availing of Ryanair’s two free carry-on bags service, and with high load factors, there is not enough overhead cabin space for this volume of carry-on bags”.

Customers can still bring two free bags, but those who haven’t purchased priority boarding must place their bag in the hold at the boarding gate, free of charge.