Ryanair has made an immediate change to its seating rules that will affect families, with the new policy taking effect today. Under the revised policy, adult passengers with children who do not wish to select or pay for a reserved seat will be given a free-of-charge seat allocation after checking in for their flight.
New policy details
The change means parents traveling with children will save money by not having to pay for reserved seats. However, families opting for this random seat allocation are likely to be seated toward the rear of the aircraft cabin, as front rows tend to be reserved and sell out first. Parents who want to sit with their children at the front of the plane will still have to pay for reserved seats.
Ryanair's statement
In a statement released this morning, Ryanair said: "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."
Background of the CMA investigation
The announcement comes two weeks after the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) launched an investigation into whether Ryanair was overcharging parents to sit with their children on flights. The CMA said it would determine whether the practice is "in line with consumer law." At the time, Ryanair described the investigation as "bogus" and a "failed effort by the Starmer Government to pretend it cares about consumers."
When the investigation was launched, Ryanair required parents traveling with children aged between two and 11 to pay to reserve a mandatory family seat, typically costing about £8 each way, according to the CMA. Children were then allocated seats next to or near them free of charge. Children under two must sit on a parent's lap. Paying to reserve a seat is optional for other passengers.
CMA's concerns
The CMA said it was investigating whether Ryanair's approach meant "parents are being charged for the airline to meet its child safety and disability-related obligations as set out under aviation rules." The CMA noted that Ryanair is "the only major airline flying out of the UK to impose this charge," as other carriers offer to seat children beside a parent without a paid adult reservation or automatically allocate seats together during booking.
Hayley Fletcher, senior director of consumer protection at the CMA, said at the time: "Lots of families save up to afford a summer holiday and we know that extra charges can quickly bump up the price. Our investigation will consider Ryanair’s approach to family seat reservations and how the cost is presented to consumers, to determine whether they comply with consumer law."
Ryanair's response
Today, a Ryanair spokesperson confirmed that its "long-standing family seating policy fully complies with all relevant laws and regulations. Ryanair does not charge any fee for children to sit beside their parent or accompanying adult." The spokesperson added: "Like all adults who select a reserved seat, adults travelling with children pay one reserved seat fee, but can select reserved seats beside them for up to four children on the same booking free of charge. This means that parents travelling with children pay for only one (adult) reserved seat – at a discounted rate – but pay nothing for the four other reserved seats for the children travelling with them."
Ryanair CEO Michael O'Leary released a fiery statement accusing the CMA of 'failing consumers,' before conceding: "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 CMA has been contacted for additional comment.
