British Airways personal item size: what fits in 40 × 30 × 15 cm

Short answer: a British Airways personal item must fit within 40 × 30 × 15 cm (the strictest axis is depth at 15 cm). The Jelkin 25 measures 25 × 17 × 14 cm on the outside, so it clears the depth limit by 1 cm and qualifies as a free under-seat bag.

British Airways gives you two cabin pieces on short-haul, which changes the whole calculation: a personal item of 40 × 30 × 15 cm / 15.7 × 11.8 × 5.9 in and a cabin bag of 56 × 45 × 25 cm / 22 × 17.7 × 9.8 in. Most European carriers make you choose between the two. BA does not — but the 15 cm depth is the tightest personal item figure outside the Lufthansa Group, and it is the one to plan around.

Two pieces, not one: 40 × 30 × 15 plus 56 × 45 × 25

The larger piece goes in the overhead locker and the smaller one under the seat. The locker allowance is among the most generous in Europe at 56 × 45 × 25 cm / 22 × 17.7 × 9.8 in, which is noticeably wider than the 55 × 40 × 23 cm / 21.7 × 15.7 × 9.1 in used across much of the continent.

Having both means the personal item is genuinely a personal item: passport, phone, wallet, medication, something to read. You are not trying to fit a weekend into it, which is what makes the 15 cm workable despite being shallow.

The 15 cm depth is the entire story for a 25 cm bag

Match a 25 × 17 × 14 cm / 9.8 × 6.7 × 5.5 in bag to the allowance largest side to largest. Against 40 cm you have 15 cm / 5.9 in of slack; against 30 cm you have 13 cm / 5.1 in; against 15 cm you have just 1 cm / 0.4 in.

That 1 cm is the narrowest margin anywhere in this group — easyJet leaves you 6 cm on the same bag. It also makes orientation non-negotiable: the 14 cm side has to face the 15 cm limit. Turn the bag so the 17 cm side faces it instead and you are 2 cm over before anyone has touched it. A soft bag will give back a centimetre or two under light pressure, but only if nothing rigid is pressing against the lining from inside.

British Airways cabin allowances compared

What varies by fare is the checked bag, not the cabin pieces.

The hand-baggage-only Basic fare removes the checked bag, not the cabin allowance: you still get both pieces in the cabin, so buying up a fare only makes sense if you need to check something. A 25 × 17 × 14 cm / 9.8 × 6.7 × 5.5 in bag plus a 56 × 45 × 25 cm case covers a fortnight for most people, and our Jelkin 25 size comparison shows where the small piece sits next to the usual alternatives.

23 kg in the cabin, and why that is unusual

Lufthansa caps a cabin bag at 8 kg and Air France at 12 kg combined. BA's 23 kg is roughly triple the first of those, so you can put a laptop, a camera body and a bag of chargers in the cabin piece without a second thought about the scale.

Two caveats. You still have to lift it into the locker yourself, which at 23 kg is a real constraint on what you should pack. And if you connect onto a partner operating the next leg, the partner's lower limit is generally what applies, so pack to the stricter number.

Heathrow and Gatwick: how bags are actually checked

Sizers appear at gates on busy short-haul departures and cabin bags are weighed occasionally, but the personal item is very rarely measured. What matters more at Heathrow is distance: the walk from security to the gate can be long, and a bag you can carry comfortably for twenty minutes is worth more than two extra litres of capacity. Shoulder comfort and strap design is the detail people wish they had checked earlier.

One adjustment before you board

Set the bag down depth-first, with its 14 cm side facing the 15 cm limit and the structured opening facing up, and keep anything rigid out of it. A hard glasses case is the usual culprit: it turns a 14 cm bag into a 16 cm one, and on BA that difference is the whole allowance. Everything bulky goes in the 56 × 45 × 25 cm piece instead.

The Jelkin 25 Cloud Bag in Noir measures 25 × 17 × 14 cm / 9.8 × 6.7 × 5.5 in and about 600 g / 1.3 lb empty, and holds that shape rather than slumping, so the number you measured at home is the number at the gate. For the wider picture, choosing a personal item bag that fits airline limits and whether an iPad mini fits cover the two questions that come up next, and 25 cm versus 20 cm settles the size argument.

Allowances change with route, fare type, season and aircraft. The figures below were checked against the airline’s public baggage pages in October 2026 and are given as a guide only — always confirm on the airline’s own site before you fly, and measure your bag packed rather than empty. CloudFlirty is not affiliated with any airline mentioned here.

Frequently asked questions

What is British Airways' personal item size?

40 × 30 × 15 cm / 15.7 × 11.8 × 5.9 in, included alongside a 56 × 45 × 25 cm / 22 × 17.7 × 9.8 in cabin bag. The personal item goes under the seat.

Does a 25 × 17 × 14 cm bag fit as a BA personal item?

Yes, with 1 cm / 0.4 in to spare on the 15 cm depth — the tightest margin of any airline here. Orient it so the 14 cm side faces that limit.

How much can the BA cabin bag weigh?

Up to 23 kg on most short-haul fares, which is far above the European norm. The personal item is not weighed separately.

Do I still get both pieces on a Basic fare?

Yes. The hand-baggage-only Basic fare removes the checked bag, not the cabin allowance, so buying up only makes sense if you need to check something.

Will staff measure my personal item at the gate?

Rarely. Sizers and scales appear mainly for the larger cabin bag on busy departures. Pack to the published figure anyway, because the 15 cm depth is easy to exceed unknowingly.

Check it against the others: the airline personal item size checker puts this allowance next to 18 other carriers and tells you whether a 25 × 17 × 14 cm bag passes.

Questions people ask

What is British Airways' personal item size?

40 × 30 × 15 cm, and it must go under the seat in front of you. It is free in addition to the cabin bag on most fares, as long as it fits the sizer.

Does a 25 × 17 × 14 cm bag fit British Airways?

Yes. At 14 cm deep it sits 1 cm inside British Airways's 15 cm depth cap, and it is shorter and narrower than the other two axes as well, so it drops into the sizer with room to spare.

Does the limit include handles and wheels?

Yes. Where British Airways publishes a personal-item size, the figure is the outside of the bag including handles, wheels and any fixed straps.