Taking your bike abroad this year? Transporting your pride and joy on an airplane can be a costly experience, but a new study by Yellow Jersey has done all the research for you, comparing major airlines to find out which is the most bike-friendly.
*Spoiler alert* (in case you're planning on poring over the whole document), the pick of the pack are British Airways and Swiss Air, which allow you to bring a bike free of charge as part of your luggage allowance. The cheapest airline that charges for bikes is TUI, at £30-£32 per bike. Budget airline Ryanair came out bottom of the list, charging an eye watering £60 plus to carry a bike.
There are other pitfalls to be aware of as well as price - check the weight allowance when you book in your bike to fly. Most of the airlines compared allow bikes to weigh up to 32kg, but Norwegian only takes bikes weighing up to 25kg and you might just exceed with some of the heavier e-bikes on the market.
And it turns out that there's no standardised way of charging for or categorising sport equipment across airlines, but that most consider bike boxes not to be 'standard luggage' and require you to add sports equipment to your booking. Pre-booking your precious ride before you get on the plane is also recommended.
See more on the price comparison on the Yellow Jersey website
