A grandmother claimed that Ryanair charged her extra for taking an oversized suitcase on board a flight to Spain from the UK. Yet, “younger and hotter passengers” were allowed through without being charged.

Maxine Haughian, 63, was flying with a budget airline from Leeds Bradford Airport to Alicante, Spain when she was stopped.

The mum-of-two was queuing when she was asked if her suitcase could be measured. She alleged that her luggage fitted inside Ryanair’s guidance rack but “stuck out” by 2cm on one side.

Haughian was travelling with her husband Jim and was told her suitcase was “too big” and would need to pay £75 to place the luggage in the hold.

Nevertheless, Haughian, who paid £25 for priority boarding with Ryanair was surprised to find that not all flyers were getting the same treatment.

She noticed that some passengers had similar bags to hers and were allowed to board the flight without any problems, she claimed.

Haughian claimed one woman who she described as “young and gorgeous”, even took a photo of herself being able to go through without being stopped.

Speaking about the incident on her Facebook account, Haughian said: “I’ve just been held up for 20 minutes because they said my cabin bag was too big and I must pay an EXTRA £75 for it to go in hold.

“It’s funny how other bags that are exactly the same were allowed through without comment.

“It’s a good job I took the photo of this (gorgeous) girl pushing her case into the box and being allowed through. I’m obviously not young or good-looking enough!”

Haughian claimed that she had used the same suitcase for the past decade and hadn’t had any issues before with the airline.

She added: “I’ve used it for nearly 10 years… the measurements are on the site and it clearly states they’ve got to sit within the lines of the rack. It was sticking out very slightly. It seemed so unfair. The bag did fit in.

“I was pretty furious but then I became more annoyed when people started walking past and they selected certain people to put their bag in. People were walking past with bags that would clearly not fit in the guide rack and they weren’t even being stopped.”

Haughian was eventually allowed to board the plane without paying the extra £75 fee due to showing Ryanair staff a photo of the other woman’s suitcase being let through.

Express.co.uk has contacted Ryanair for comment