Ryanair has confirmed an £8 seating rule change across all its flights, allowing parents to sit with their children for no extra fee. The change, which took effect in June earlier this year, followed an investigation into the airline's practice of charging parents to sit with their children on flights.
Policy change after CMA investigation
Ryanair previously required parents travelling with children aged between two and 11 to pay to reserve what it referred to as a mandatory family seat, which typically cost about £8 each way, according to the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA). Children were then allocated seats next to or near their parents, free of charge.
Following the CMA investigation, Ryanair has since confirmed a “minor tweak” to its seating policy on flights, allowing parents travelling with young children to sit together for free, effectively scrapping the £8 fee.
How the new policy works
The airline said the change means “free parent seats” will be available in the rear of its aircraft for future bookings and all children on the booking will be allocated seats alongside them for no fee. Under the policy, parents will still have the option of paying to reserve a seat of their choice if they wish and have their children alongside them free of charge.
Confirming the change in a statement, Ryanair said: “For bookings from today (25 June), adults travelling with children, who do not wish to select or pay for a reserved seat, will be advised of their (free of charge) seat allocation after they have checked in for their flight, as is the case with most other airlines in Europe.”
“Families opting for this random allocation of seats beside each other are likely to be seated towards the rear of the aircraft cabin, as front rows tend to be reserved and sell out first.”
“Families who prefer to choose their seats at the time of booking and secure premium front rows will be allowed to do so by paying a seat reservation fee, in line with the policy applied by most other European airlines.”
“This minor policy tweak will align Ryanair’s family seating policy with that of most other EU airlines, which responds to the desire of Europe’s regulators to stifle innovation and progress. The tweak will be revenue-neutral for Ryanair while families will continue saving €billions every year by choosing to travel on Europe’s lowest fare airline.”
CMA response and government action
The CMA opened the investigation to determine whether the airline’s policy at the time was “in line with consumer law” and said Ryanair’s decision to change its policy was made at its own discretion.
A CMA spokesperson said: “Ryanair claims its seating policy now complies with the law, and we’ll test that thoroughly. If true, it’s a win for families – who will no longer have to pay to sit with their children – and it shows the impact our new powers are having. But it doesn’t change the fact families have been paying for ‘mandatory family seats’. Our investigation remains ongoing.”
Ryanair chief executive Michael O’Leary accused the CMA of “turning a blind eye” to the “high fares” charged by airlines on routes with no competition from the Dublin-based carrier and said it is “reluctantly” adjusting its policy to industry standard.
Mr O’Leary said: “Instead of promoting competitiveness and lower fares for consumers, the CMA is on a mission to force Ryanair to adopt the less transparent and less consumer-friendly family seating policy applied by most other airlines – just because it’s the industry standard.”
“We will reluctantly adjust to this industry standard as we don’t want to waste time explaining to misguided regulators how badly they misunderstand what is in the best interest of UK and Europe’s consumers.”
“Under our revised family seating policy, families may have to wait until after they have checked in to find out their seat allocation and are more likely to be seated at the rear of the cabin but at least the CMA will be able to claim they have done something for consumers, but sadly most consumers won’t notice.”
The UK Government has now confirmed that all airlines will be blocked from charging parents extra to sit with their children on flights under new plans. The Department for Transport announced on October 2 that airlines will be required to seat children under the age of 14 with a parent or accompanying adult free of charge.
Passengers will also be given greater flexibility to correct simple name errors on bookings for free, putting an end to charges of up to £40 for minor mistakes or admin tweaks.
Prime Minister Andy Burnham said: "Charging parents just to sit with their children is a rip-off, plain and simple. And being hit with a hefty fee for a simple spelling mistake on a booking form isn’t right either. People are fed up with these little charges that add up, so I’m putting a stop to them."
