Martin Lewis has spoken out after Ryanair announced a major change to its seating policy, allowing parents to sit next to children under 12 for free. The move follows an investigation by the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) into the airline's previous practice of charging families for seat reservations.
What has changed?
Under the new policy, adults traveling with children under 12 will be allocated complimentary seats beside their children after check-in, though these seats will be located towards the back of the aircraft. Children will then be assigned seats next to them at no extra cost. Previously, Ryanair required at least one adult in a group to pay for a 'mandatory family seat', costing between £4.50 and £13.50 per flight, which allowed up to four children to sit adjacent without charge.
The change was announced on Thursday, June 25, following a CMA investigation that found the charge for a mandatory family seat was typically around £8 each way. Ryanair had previously branded the investigation as 'bogus'.
Martin Lewis's reaction
Martin Lewis, founder of MoneySavingExpert, commented: 'Ryanair to finally allow an option for parents to sit with children for free.' An update on the MoneySavingExpert website stated: '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.'
Ryanair's response
Ryanair chief executive Michael O'Leary said the airline would 'reluctantly adjust to this industry standard', while maintaining that its previous policy had fully adhered to regulations and provided families with 'certainty'. He criticised the CMA investigation, alleging the watchdog had 'targeted' the carrier. 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.'
O'Leary 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.'
