Martin Lewis has spoken out after Ryanair announced a major change to its seating policy, allowing parents to sit with children under 12 free of charge. The budget airline confirmed the change on Thursday, June 25, 2026, following an investigation by the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) into its mandatory family seat fees.
Details of the Policy Change
Under the new policy, adults will be offered free seats next to their children after check-in, albeit at the rear of the plane. Children will then be allocated seats next to them at no extra cost. Previously, Ryanair charged parents between £4.50 and £13.50 per flight to reserve a mandatory family seat, which allowed up to four children to sit next to them without charge. The CMA investigation found that this fee was typically about £8 each way.
Ryanair had described the investigation as 'bogus', but has now adjusted its policy. CEO Michael O'Leary said the airline would 'reluctantly adjust to this industry standard', but insisted its long-standing policy fully complied with laws and gave families 'certainty'. He added that the 'free parent seats' would be available at the back of the aircraft, as front rows tend to be reserved.
Martin Lewis's Reaction
Martin Lewis took to social media to comment on the change, tweeting: 'Ryanair to finally allow an option for parents to sit with children for free - here's how it'll work'. An update on the MoneySavingExpert site explained: 'If you're travelling with a child under 12 on a Ryanair flight, you can now sit next to them for free instead of having to pay to reserve a seat. It follows the launch of an official investigation into Ryanair's seat charges for parents.'
Under Ryanair's old policy, it was compulsory for at least one adult in the group to pay for a seat reservation, which the airline called a 'mandatory family seat'. This could cost between £4.50 and £13.50 per flight, and you could then reserve seats for free for up to four children. But this has now changed.
Ryanair's Response
Michael O'Leary had earlier hit out at the CMA investigation, claiming that the body had 'targeted' the airline. He said: 'The CMA has now targeted our family seating policy which has been universally embraced by consumers as the most progressive and transparent in Europe. 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.'
He added: '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.'
