Ryanair's full list of items travellers must not pack or risk chaos before boarding

Holiday season is upon us and many will be packing to head to a sunny European spot. But knowing what you can and cannot pack can become quite daunting when airlines have differing rules.

While you are already likely familiar with many of the common items banned on flights, each airline provides unique guidance on what items are permissible. This is the latest guidance from one of the UK’s most popular airlines, Ryanair, on what passengers can and cannot carry onto their planes.

According to Ryanair's general terms and conditions, if staffers do find any of your baggage contains items that you are not allowed to carry, it will refuse to carry it while it contains those items. The airline also reserves the right to accept baggage that in their "reasonable opinion" is not properly and securely packed in suitable containers. If you refuse the search, X-raying or scanning of your bag or your person, the airline also says it may refuse to carry you and your baggage.

You must not carry any of the following items into security restricted areas and on board an aircraft in your carry-on luggage or in your checked-in luggage. Any item which could be a danger to the plane, people or property, including the following:

guns, firearms and other devices that discharge projectiles — devices capable, or appearing capable, of being used to cause serious injury by discharging a projectile, including:

• firearms of all types, such as pistols, revolvers, rifles, shotguns,
• toy guns (including recreational guns such as paint ball guns), replicas and imitation firearms capable of being mistaken for real weapons,
• component parts of firearms, excluding telescopic sights,
• compressed air and CO2 guns, such as pistols, pellet guns, rifles and ball bearing guns,
• signal flare pistols and starter pistols,
• bows, cross bows and arrows,
• harpoon guns, spear guns and nail guns,
• slingshots and catapults,
• stun guns, tasers, cattle prods and lasers;

Stunning devices — devices designed specifically to stun or immobilise, including:

• devices for shocking, such as stun guns, tasers and stun batons,
• animal stunners and animal killers,
• disabling and incapacitating chemicals, gases and gas containers, sprays, including tear gas, mace, pepper sprays, capsicum sprays, acid sprays and animal repellent sprays;

Explosives and incendiary substances and devices — explosives and incendiary substances and devices capable, or appearing capable, of being used to cause serious injury or to pose a threat to the safety of aircraft, including:

• Ammunition,
• Blasting caps,
• Detonators and fuses,
• Replica or imitation explosive devices,
• Mines, grenades and other explosive military stores,
• Fireworks and other pyrotechnics,
• Smoke-generating canisters and smoke-generating cartridges,
• Dynamite, gunpowder and plastic explosives,
• Flammable liquids, flammable solids and substances that cause a chemical reaction,
• Paint, turpentine, white spirit and paint thinner,
• Alcohol with an ABV of more than 70% (140% proof),
• Toxic or infectious substances (for example, acids and alkalis, ‘wet’ batteries, bleach, poisons, infected blood, and bacteria and viruses),
• Radioactive material, including medicinal or commercial isotopes,
• Corrosives, including mercury, vehicle batteries, and parts which have contained fuel,
• More than one litre in total of edible oil (for example, olive oil),
• Lithium ion battery-powered vehicles (including segways and hoverboards) other than any wheelchair or mobility equipment that meets our regulations,
• Smart bags which the lithium battery has not been removed from,
• Fire extinguishers (except as authorised by fire procedures and as emergency equipment on the plane)
• Lighters and firelighters with a flammable liquid reservoir containing unabsorbed liquid fuel (other than liquefied gas), lighter fuel and lighter refills,
• “Strike anywhere” matches,
• Christmas crackers,
• Energy-saving light bulbs,
• Items with internal combustion engines.

Items which are prohibited by a law, regulation or order of any country or state your plane is flying to or from are also strictly prohibited on board and in checked baggage.

Items which Ryanair has good reason to believe are unsuitable for carriage because:

• they are dangerous or unsafe;
• of their weight, size, shape or character;
• are fragile or perishable.

Fish, birds or any animals killed and kept as hunting trophies are also prohibited.

The following items must not be carried into security restricted areas and on board as carry-on luggage, but may be carried as part of your checked-in luggage:

Objects with a sharp point or sharp edge —Objects with a sharp point or sharp edge capable of being used to cause serious injury, including:

• Items designed for chopping, such axes, hatchets and cleavers,
• Ice axes, ice picks and ice skates,
• Razors and razor blades (except safety or disposable razors with enclosed blades and razor heads held in plastic compartments),
• Box cutters,
• Knives with blades of more than 6cm, including lockable or flick knives, ceremonial or religious knives and hunting knives made of metal or any other material strong enough to be used as a potential weapon, craft knives and utility knives and scrapers
• Scissors with blades of more than 6cm, as measured from the fulcrum,
• Martial arts equipment with a sharp point or sharp edge, including throwing stars
• Swords and sabres,
• Swordsticks, meat cleavers, machetes,
• Scalpels, crampons, grappling irons, hooked bars of iron and plates with iron spikes used in mountaineering,
• Harpoons and spears,
• Ski poles and walking or hiking poles;

Any sharp objects in your checked-in luggage should be securely wrapped to prevent injury to any staff who need to handle it.

Workmen's tools — tools capable of being used either to cause serious injury or to threaten the safety of aircraft, including:

• crowbars,
• drills and drill bits, including cordless portable power drills,
• tools with a blade or a shaft of more than 6 cm capable of use as a weapon, such as screwdrivers and chisels,
• saws, including cordless portable power saws,
• blowtorches,
• bolt guns and nail guns,
• hammers, pliers, wrenches and spanners;

Blunt instruments – objects capable of being used to cause serious injury when used to hit, including:

• Baseball and softball bats,
• Clubs and batons, such as billy clubs, blackjacks and night sticks,
• Martial arts equipment (for example, knuckledusters, coshes, flails),
• Tennis rackets, squash rackets and so on,
• Cricket bats,
• Hockey sticks, hurley sticks and lacrosse sticks,
• Kayak and canoe paddles,
• Skateboards,
• Billiard, snooker and pool cues,
• Darts,
• Fishing rods;