Ryanair has revised its family seating policy following an investigation by the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) into charges imposed on parents to sit with their children. The low-cost carrier now offers adults free seat allocation next to their children after check-in, though these seats are typically located at the rear of the aircraft.
Policy change details
As of Thursday, parents traveling with children aged 2 to 11 can receive complimentary adjacent seats after checking in for their flight. All children on the same booking will be seated alongside an adult without additional fees. Ryanair described this as a minor policy tweak, coming two weeks after it dismissed the CMA probe as bogus.
The airline stated: 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 seats at booking and secure front row seats can still do so by paying a reservation fee.
Background of the investigation
Previously, Ryanair required parents of children aged 2 to 11 to pay a mandatory family seat fee, typically around £8 each way, to reserve seats together. Up to four children could sit alongside without charge. The CMA opened an investigation to assess whether this policy complied with consumer law, noting that Ryanair was the only large UK-outbound airline imposing such a charge.
Ryanair’s chief executive, Michael O’Leary, accused the CMA of turning a blind eye to high fares on routes without competition from the Dublin-based 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. 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.
Impact and reaction
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.
Ryanair stated the change would not affect its revenues. The CMA has not yet commented on the revised policy.
