Ryanair has changed its family seating policy so parents can sit next to young children without paying extra seat-reservation fees, after a regulatory review was opened. According to the BBC, adults traveling with children who do not choose to reserve seats in advance will now be told their free seat allocation after check-in.
The airline said the new approach matches what most other European carriers already do. Chief executive Michael O'Leary said Ryanair would “reluctantly” align with the industry standard, while insisting the long-standing previous policy fully complied with the law and gave families “certainty” about where they would sit.
The change follows an investigation by the UK Competition and Markets Authority, which said earlier this month that it was examining whether the policy was unfair under consumer-protection law. At the start of that inquiry, the CMA said Ryanair’s old system meant an adult traveling with children paid to reserve one seat and could then choose adjacent seats for up to four children free of charge, typically costing £8 each way. The regulator said it was checking whether the airline’s seating practices effectively forced parents to pay for the carrier to meet its child-safety and disability obligations under aviation rules.
The CMA also noted that other airlines either seated children next to a parent or guardian at no extra charge, or automatically assigned nearby seats during booking without a fee. Ryanair said its free parent seats will now be available at the back of the aircraft, because the front rows are usually reserved. The airline said the “small policy change” takes effect today, Thursday, and it does not expect any impact on revenue. O'Leary accused the CMA of targeting Ryanair instead of promoting competition, saying its policy had been widely adopted by consumers as “the most advanced and transparent” in Europe. A CMA spokesperson said the regulator will examine the revised policy closely, but added that families had previously paid for “compulsory family seats” and that the investigation is still ongoing.
