By Rinalds Ažiņš, founder of TransferBnB · Last updated: October 2026 · 8 min read
In This Guide
- The three findings
- Quick Facts
- Which airline is cheapest for a ski bag?
- What does a family of four pay?
- Do SWISS, Lufthansa and Austrian carry skis free?
- easyJet, Ryanair, Aer Lingus, TUI and Jet2
- Flying with skis from the US
- How we checked
- The other end of the flight
- Frequently Asked Questions
A family of four pays between €0 and €640 to fly their skis to the Alps and back in winter 2026/27, and both ends of that range are the same three airlines. SWISS, Lufthansa and Austrian Airlines carry one ski set free on some fares and charge €80 each way on their two lowest. easyJet and Ryanair charge £45 each way, Aer Lingus £40.
This ranking covers the airlines that carry British, Irish and American skiers to Geneva, Zurich, Munich, Innsbruck, Salzburg, Lyon, Grenoble, Milan and Turin. Every fee was read on the airline's own page on 9 October 2026, and an airline whose fee could not be read that day is not ranked.
What are the three findings?
The fare decides more than the airline does.
- The dearest ski bag and the free one are on the same aircraft. On SWISS, Lufthansa and Austrian Airlines, one ski set travels free on top of your suitcase, except on the Light fare and the Economy Basic fare, where it costs €80 each way within Europe. That is €160 a return for one skier and €640 for a family of four.
- The three low-cost airlines with a published flat fee sit within £5 of each other. Aer Lingus charges £40 each way, easyJet £45 and Ryanair £45, so a return costs £80 to £90 a skier.
- Paying at the airport costs an easyJet family £56 more. The same ski set is £45 online and £52 at the desk, each way.
"The fee people look up is the wrong one," says Rinalds Ažiņš, founder of TransferBnB. "On three of the biggest Alpine airlines the ski bag costs nothing or €80 each way, and the only thing that changes is which fare you bought."
Quick Facts: Airline Ski Bag Fees (Winter 2026/27)
| Question | Short Answer |
|---|---|
| Lowest return fee, one skier | €0 on SWISS, Lufthansa, Austrian Airlines and Edelweiss, on eligible fares |
| Highest return fee, one skier | €160 on SWISS, Lufthansa and Austrian Airlines on Light and Economy Basic fares |
| easyJet | £45 each way online, £52 at the airport, 20 kg |
| Ryanair | £45 or €45 each way online, £50 or €50 at the airport, 20 kg |
| Aer Lingus | £40 or €40 each way online |
| Family of four, return | €0 to €640, by airline and fare |
| Date checked | 9 October 2026, on each airline's own page |
Sources: airline baggage and fee pages, read 9 October 2026. Full list at the foot of the page.
Which airline is cheapest for a ski bag in winter 2026/27?
Four airlines carry a ski set for nothing, on the right fare.
The table ranks one ski set per person, added online in advance, on a flight within Europe. A return is two one-way fees. Fees are shown in the currency the airline publishes.
| Rank | Airline and fare | Each way, online | Return, one skier | Return, family of four | Weight limit |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | SWISS, Lufthansa, Austrian Airlines, on fares above Light and Economy Basic | €0 | €0 | €0 | 23 kg on SWISS |
| 1 | Edelweiss, on every fare except Light | CHF 0 | CHF 0 | CHF 0 | 23 kg |
| 3 | Aer Lingus | £40 or €40 | £80 | £320 | not stated |
| 4 | easyJet | £45 | £90 | £360 | 20 kg |
| 4 | Ryanair | £45 or €45 | £90 | £360 | 20 kg |
| 6 | TUI | from £60 | from £120 | from £480 | 15 kg, boots not included |
| 7 | SWISS, Lufthansa, Austrian Airlines, on Light and Economy Basic fares | €80 | €160, about £136 | €640, about £542 | 23 kg on SWISS |
Read the first and last rows together. They are the same airlines, the same aircraft and the same ski bag, and the price moves from nothing to €160 with the fare.
Four more European carriers publish a fee and fly into the same airports, mostly from Scandinavia, the Baltics, Spain and Luxembourg.
| Airline | Each way, online | Each way, at the airport | Return, one skier |
|---|---|---|---|
| airBaltic | from €39.99 when booking | €75 | from about €80 |
| Norwegian | €40 to €45 | €50 | €80 to €90 |
| Vueling | €45 to €65 | €55 to €75 | €90 to €130 |
| Luxair | €80 | €80 | €160 |
British Airways, KLM and Air France are not ranked because they have no ski fee at all. A ski set counts as your checked bag, so the cost is zero on a fare that includes one and the price of a bag on a fare that does not, and none of the three publishes that bag price on its ski page.
What does a family of four pay in ski bag fees?
Between nothing and €640 for the return trip.
Four ski sets on Aer Lingus come to £320 for the two flights. On easyJet or Ryanair the same family pays £360, and on TUI the published starting price makes it £480 before a single pair of boots is packed, because TUI's ski carriage covers the skis only.
The top of the range belongs to a full-service airline. A family on Light or Economy Basic fares with SWISS, Lufthansa or Austrian Airlines pays €80 a set each way, which is €640 for the trip and about £542 at the European Central Bank reference rate of 9 October 2026.
The same family on the next fare up pays nothing for the skis.
Our guide to what a family really pays to reach a ski resort works through the ground leg in the same way.
Do SWISS, Lufthansa and Austrian carry skis for free?
Yes, but not on their two lowest fares.
All three airlines carry one ski or snowboard set per person free of charge, in addition to the normal checked allowance. A set is one bag with skis or a board and a second with boots and poles, up to 200 cm long. On SWISS the set may weigh 23 kg.
The catch is the fare. Lufthansa excludes the Light fare and the Economy Basic fare on short and medium-haul flights, Austrian Airlines excludes both on European routes, and SWISS says the same and prices the alternative at CHF 90 or €80 per flight within Europe. Most guides still say that only the Light fare is excluded. Even one of SWISS's own promotional pages names Light alone.
Austrian Airlines adds a ticket service fee of €10 to €20 when the charge applies.
Edelweiss, which flies from Zurich, is the simplest of the four. The first ski set is free on every flight it operates, long haul included, unless the ticket is a Light fare with no checked bag.
How much do easyJet, Ryanair, Aer Lingus, TUI and Jet2 charge?
£40 to £60 each way, where a price is published at all.
easyJet lists skis and boots as small sports equipment at £45 per item, per flight online and £52 at the airport, with a 20 kg limit that cannot be pooled with a suitcase. Figures of £27 to £42 still circulate in fee round-ups. easyJet's own fees page says £45.
Ryanair has its own line for ski equipment: £45 or €45 online and £50 or €50 at the airport, per item and per one-way flight, up to 20 kg.
Aer Lingus charges £40 or €40 per flight online for one pair of skis with boots and poles. Some guides still quote £25. The Aer Lingus page says £40.
TUI sells ski carriage per set from £60 or €69 per one-way flight, with a 15 kg limit. Boots are not part of it and go in your normal hold allowance.
Jet2 does not publish a price. Its ski carriage page confirms a 22 kg allowance and a fee, and the amount appears only inside a booking. The £1 ski carriage that is still widely quoted was a sale on bookings made from 10 to 24 September 2026.
Per-airline size limits, boot bag rules and what counts as one set are kept up to date on SkiBagRules, our reference site for flying with skis.
How much does it cost to fly with skis from the US to the Alps?
It depends on whether the airline treats skis as an extra or as your bag.
SWISS and Edelweiss carry the first ski set free from the US. SWISS states on its US site that the free set applies on every flight it operates itself, outside the Light fare. Edelweiss lists CHF 0 for long-haul flights on the same terms.
Lufthansa and Austrian Airlines stop the free set at the US border. Both exclude flights to and from the USA, and both list $290 per route for a ski set on long-haul flights, with a note to confirm the price for your own flight in the baggage calculator.
KLM, Air France, British Airways and Delta count the skis as a checked bag. Delta accepts one ski bag and one boot bag together as one item up to 50 lbs. On KLM, a first extra bag between the United States and Europe is $75 each way. Aer Lingus carries sports equipment inside the standard allowance on its North America flights.
United and American are not in this ranking. Neither airline's fee could be read on its own page on the day we checked.
How did we check the fees?
We read each airline's own page, on one day, and used nothing else.
The starting list was the airline records held by SkiBagRules. On 9 October 2026 we tried the ski baggage or fees page of 22 airlines that fly from the UK, Ireland and the US to Alpine airports, or within Europe to the same airports. Seventeen pages could be read. Twelve of those airlines publish what a ski set costs, including the ones that publish zero.
The ranking uses one basis: one ski set per person, added online in advance, on a flight within Europe, with a return counted as two one-way fees. Airport prices are shown beside it and never ranked. Sterling equivalents of euro fees use the European Central Bank reference rate of 9 October 2026.
Five airlines were dropped. Eurowings, Wizz Air, United and American would not show a fee we could read that day, and Transavia's page returned an error. No figure from a comparison site, a forum or an earlier season was used to fill a gap.
Airlines change these tables without notice. Check the page linked in each row before you book.
What happens to the ski bags at the other end?
They have to fit in a vehicle.
"A family that has paid for four ski bags still needs four ski bags to fit in a vehicle at the other end," says Ažiņš. "Put the number on the transfer request, the same way you put it on the flight booking."
On TransferBnB you post the trip with the number of people and ski bags, and verified local carriers send offers for a vehicle that takes them. Start from your airport: Geneva, Zurich, Munich or Innsbruck. Our complete guide to ski transfers in Europe covers the rest of the journey from the Alps airports to the resorts.
AI-generated images.
Frequently Asked Questions
Which airline is cheapest for taking skis to the Alps in winter 2026/27?
SWISS, Lufthansa, Austrian Airlines and Edelweiss carry one ski set free on eligible fares, so they are the cheapest at €0. Among airlines that charge a flat fee, Aer Lingus is lowest at £40 each way, followed by easyJet and Ryanair at £45 each way. Fees were read on each airline's own page on 9 October 2026.
How much does it cost to take skis on easyJet?
easyJet charges £45 per item, per flight when skis are added online and £52 at the airport, so a return costs £90 booked in advance. Skis and boots count as small sports equipment with a 20 kg limit, and the weight cannot be pooled with a hold bag.
How much does Ryanair charge for a ski bag?
Ryanair charges £45 or €45 per ski bag, per one-way flight when it is booked online and £50 or €50 at the airport. The limit is 20 kg. A return costs £90 for one skier and £360 for a family of four.
Do SWISS and Lufthansa carry skis for free?
Yes, on most fares. SWISS and Lufthansa carry one ski set free in addition to the checked allowance, but not on the Light fare or the Economy Basic fare on short and medium-haul flights, where the charge is €80 each way within Europe. Lufthansa also excludes flights to and from the USA. SWISS does not.
What does a family of four pay in airline ski bag fees?
Between €0 and €640 for a return trip within Europe. Four ski sets cost £320 on Aer Lingus, £360 on easyJet or Ryanair and from £480 on TUI. On SWISS, Lufthansa or Austrian Airlines the cost is nothing on eligible fares and €640 on Light or Economy Basic fares.
Does British Airways charge for skis?
British Airways has no separate ski fee. A ski bag within 190 x 75 x 65 cm travels as part of your checked baggage allowance, so it is free on a fare that includes a bag. On a fare without one you pay for a checked bag, and British Airways does not publish that price on its sports equipment page.
Is it cheaper to pay for a ski bag online or at the airport?
Online, on every airline that publishes both prices. easyJet charges £45 online and £52 at the airport, Ryanair £45 and £50, and airBaltic from €39.99 when booking against €75 at the airport. A family of four on easyJet pays £56 more for a return by waiting until the desk.
Sources and Data
- Airline ski baggage and fee pages, read 9 October 2026: Aer Lingus, easyJet, Ryanair, TUI, SWISS, Lufthansa, Austrian Airlines, Edelweiss, British Airways, KLM, Air France, Jet2, Norwegian, airBaltic, Vueling, Luxair and Delta.
- European Central Bank, euro reference rates of 9 October 2026, used for the sterling equivalents.
- SkiBagRules, the starting list of airlines and the per-airline rules, 2026.
