ALMOST one in four passengers has been caught out by airline cabin baggage restrictions and ended up  paying additional fees to check in their luggage at the airport, according to travel search site Skyscanner.

The survey of 1,000 Britons found there is a great deal of confusion surrounding cabin baggage   because airlines are free to enforce their own weight and size restrictions.

Skyscanner said that its research shows that Easyjet passengers get the tiniest guaranteed cabin bag allowance, although the low-cost airline imposes no weight restriction, while Thomas Cook limits passengers’ carry-on bags to no more than 5kg.

Iberia is the most generous airline, permitting passengers to board with bags as large as 56x45x25, closely followed by British Airways which allows hand luggage weighing up to 23kgs.

In an effort to provide some clarity to customers, and reduce the number of passengers being forced to pay to check in over-sized hand-luggage, Skyscanner has created a guide on its website to European carriers.