Ryanair investigated over charging parents to sit with their children
The UK’s CMA is probing Ryanair’s family seat fee, which it says can cost parents about £8 a flight. The airline calls the inquiry bogus.
Intelligence analysis by GPT-5.4 Mini
The UK consumer watchdog is investigating whether Ryanair’s mandatory family seat fee is unfair and whether it is being shown transparently during booking. Ryanair says its policy is legal, helps families save money, and is being targeted unfairly.
Ryanair is being checked because it may charge extra when a parent wants to sit beside a child, like paying an extra fee to sit together at a movie. The UK watchdog wants to know if that charge is fair and if the full price is shown early enough.
Analysis
What happened
The UK Competition and Markets Authority has opened an investigation into Ryanair’s policy of charging parents to sit next to their children. The watchdog says the airline’s terms require at least one parent to sit with children aged 2 to 11, including children with disabilities, and that the fee is typically about £8 each way.
What the CMA is checking
The CMA will look at whether the charge is an unfair contract term under consumer law. It will also examine whether the family seat fee is being added during booking in a way that is not fully transparent. That matters because “drip pricing” was banned in 2024, and the regulator says consumers should be shown the total price upfront.
The watchdog says Ryanair appears to be the only large airline flying from the UK that imposes this charge. It also notes that other airlines either seat children with parents for free or automatically place families together during booking.
Ryanair’s response
Ryanair dismissed the case as a “bogus investigation” and said it expected to disprove the CMA’s claims. The airline argues that its family seating policy complies with relevant laws, and says adults traveling with children pay one reserved-seat fee while up to four children on the same booking can sit beside them free of charge.
The company also used the announcement to criticize the UK government over air passenger duty, saying that cutting APD would lower fares and support aviation and tourism.
What happens next
The CMA has just started its work and has not reached any conclusion on whether Ryanair broke the law. Still, the case fits the regulator’s broader push to protect consumers and target businesses that do not show the full price clearly from the start.
Key points
- The UK CMA is investigating Ryanair’s mandatory family seat fee.
- The regulator says the charge may be an unfair contract term under consumer law.
- Ryanair says the inquiry is bogus and claims its policy complies with the law.
- The CMA is also checking whether the fee is shown clearly during booking.
- The watchdog says other airlines seat children with parents for free or at no extra cost.
If the CMA rules against Ryanair, families could get clearer prices and fewer surprise charges when booking flights. The case could also push other airlines to make family seating simpler and more transparent.
If the fee is upheld, parents may keep paying extra just to sit with their children, and the issue could stay common on budget flights. A slow or weak outcome could also leave room for more hidden-fee disputes during booking.
